By These Fists
by Andivari
Summary: Naruto always knew his path had no shortcuts. He always knew the odds were against him. Age has brought him maturity and skill. And as a jinchuuriki, help comes from odd places. Spoilers up to chapter 305 in the manga. eventually I'll settle on a pair
1. The Lost and The Forsaken

Author's Notes

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor do I own the teachings of the Kitsune. I'm borrowing Naruto, but I'll put him back. I'm heisting the teachings of the Kitsune from Wizards of the Coast's Magic: The Gathering.

If you don't want to read these, you can skip right on past to the next chapter, it's the prologue. It picks up a week after the end of the present Manga arc, upon the return of Sakura, Naruto, Yamato and Sai to Konoha.

But I wouldn't suggest it. I don't write author's notes very often, and if you ask me a question, you'll find I'm not gonna bother answering it outside the story. Most things will find answers in the story. If the question is important, I will work an answer into the story.

This _is_ a Naruto/Sakura fic In spite of my previous dilly-dallying between pairings, I've decided that this fic is 100 percent Naru/Saku. Don't like it, leave.

Now, a couple things to note before we delve into this story.

1: There is a difference between strength and power. Strength is how much damage a punch causes. Power is the result of multiple factors combined. An example would be Kakashi and Sakura. Sakura is at least twenty times _stronger_ than Kakashi. Kakashi, however, is far more powerful. The combination of a far wider base of techniques, considerably greater experience, and better speed and senses more than make up for his lesser strength. Strength is easy to improve with training, power is much harder to improve.

2: Naruto will _not_ be becoming a demi-god in the course of this story. Keep in mind, however, that the series makes a point of implying that he, Sakura and Sasuke have the potential of being another group of Sannin. Especially since they've trained under the previous Sannin.

We have already seen in the manga several examples of just how powerful the Sannin were during their prime (Just about any of Orochimaru's fights, baring the one where he has no arms). Eventually, Naruto Sakura and Sasuke will reach that point in terms of power.

3: I'm not going to use the suffixes of Japanese. I'm not comfortable with them. I will attempt to use the technique names in Japanese, because I think their English names are stupid. But I will not be using Japanese suffixes.

That's enough for now. If something comes up that I feel deserves a note, I'll drop it in here, and make a quick statement at the beginning of a chapter.

Chapter 1: The Lost and The Forsaken

Haruno Kasumi was not easily shaken. Her career as a kunoichi had been long and distinguished, not to mention a little bloody from time to time. She had been under serious consideration for a promotion into ANBU before she had the awe-inspiring gall to go and get married to one of her assassination targets.

"What's happening to her?" Kasumi asked, as she sat by her daughter's bedside, gently brushing the sweat-soaked hair off of her face. Her daughter had been admitted to the hospital two days previously for exhaustion. Now she wasn't so sure that exhaustion was merely a cover.

Tsunade frowned as she glanced over the tests in front of her, her gaze practically demanding that one of them jump up and wave its arms, directing her to the cause of her apprentice's condition. Alas, the tests were no more forthcoming than the previous four batteries. "I have no idea. Nothing's coming up on tests.

"If it is poison, it's certainly slow-acting. She hasn't been on a mission in over a week." Tsunade said. That was as far as she could go with that issue, any more and she would be breaking her own orders for secrecy on the events at Teichi bridge, and Orochimaru's lair afterwards.

"I see." Kasumi murmured. Her eyes traced over the bandages on Sakura's left arm, wondering what they were covering. She had noticed the scar there when the girl returned from her mission. Nothing major, and definitely nothing to have the bandages wrapped around it an ugly red-green color.

Sakura had claimed that the injury on her upper arm was from Orochimaru. Tsunade wouldn't put it past the snake to resort to a poison in battle. If nothing else could be said for him, he was an excellent ninja.

Tsunade wasn't Hokage for nothing however. Having trained the girl for close to three years, she had grown proficient in reading her every action, and had picked up the lie quickly. Although she hadn't seen the actual wound on the girl's arm, she had seen Naruto's slight reaction when Sakura had lied. _He_ was the one who had injured her. Not Orochimaru, but Naruto.

And whatever else could be said for Naruto, he was _not_ the kind of ninja who used poisons. He blustered and bluffed, and then clocked you on the back of the head while you're paying attention to that Kage Bunshin you never saw him make, or replace himself with.

He also was just stupid enough to come barreling into a hospital room, voice at full volume.

Jiraiya came in shortly behind Naruto. Glancing at his old friend, he put a hand on her shoulder. She slipped him a small smile, appreciative of the support. Neither of them wanted to admit that they had grown so close to the apprentices they were so hesitant to take on, but they had. Last time Naruto had been in bed like that, Jiraiya had nearly drowned himself in sake. She'd paid for every cup, too.

Tsunade turned to the jinchuuriki, her face impassive. She was thankful that Kasumi was restraining herself. If she had said anything, it would have made it much harder for Tsunade to do what was necessary now. Turning a stern gaze onto Naruto, she felt as much as saw his blue gaze meet hers, and she saw, beneath the mask of cheerfulness, that she had his complete attention.

"Naruto. What the hell happened to my apprentice?" Anyone else would have cowered at the tone. Naruto wasn't anyone else, however… He was Naruto and only Sakura could make him tremble from words alone. Tsunade needed the threat of violence.

Naruto didn't respond, as the mask of good cheer slipped away. His eyes darted from hers, as he turned his full attention to the girl in bed. Her face twisted up with a sudden spurt of pain. Naruto tensed slightly, before forcing himself to relax. "Kyuubi. Kyuubi happened."

Jiraiya knew that he'd be paying for Tsunade's sake for the rest of the week.

"You did this?" Kasumi's voice was thick with emotions, and Naruto couldn't miss the threat of violence in it if he wanted to. He wasn't certain if the woman next to him had training as a ninja, but he wasn't about to take the chance that she was. Moving to look out the window, he nodded.

"When Orochimaru attacked at Teichi bridge, I used the Kyuubi's chakra." He used his reflection to meet Jiraiya's eyes. "I must have hit at least four tails, because I don't remember what happened."

Yep. Jiraiya was buying Tsunade's sake for the week. And maybe some for Sakura's mother too.

"Yamato says that she tried to snap me out of the transformation." Jiraiya's expression shifted ever so slightly, as he filled in the blanks. Tsunade's darting eyes, making a circuit from Naruto to Sakura to Jiraiya gave an indication that she too had made the connection. The third lady was the only one that hadn't, to his knowledge. And he wouldn't be the one to give her enough information to piece it together. Turning his eyes to Sakura, he watched with feigned impassiveness as her grimace settled out.

And her eyes opened.

Ouch. Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, OW.

Sakura was a kunoichi. Ninja are trained to be resilient to pain. She knew that. So, logically, whatever was being used to shove hot needles through her had to be pretty nasty. Honestly, finding out what it was didn't seem to appealing, but she decided that if she didn't find out how Orochimaru was torturing her, and where, she'd never be able to get out. Hard to help rescue Sasuke if she's being kept prisoner, after all.

She heard something about clawed armadillos, as she struggled to pull her eyelids open. Orochimaru's torture master must be either insane, or have some very interesting methods. Better find out if there were a way to get away from clawed armadillos.

Funny, Orochimaru's torture master looked a lot like her mom. And his dungeon was a lot better lit than the candle-lit corridors she'd seen in most of his bases. And it had windows. Fairly certain it went against the creepy dungeon code to have windows. Ruined the ambiance.

"Sakura." The mother look-alike cried out, as she hugged her. Looking past the weeping mass of woman holding Sakura to her, she saw Tsunade standing at the foot of a rack that looked identical to the beds in Konoha's hospital. Next to the apparition of her sensei was a pervert named Jiraiya. And by the window, stood a ninja fishcake, better known as Naruto.

Somehow, she doubted Orochimaru had captured all of them. Genjutsu, then.

"Sakura, that was a week ago." Naruto said from the windows. The pink haired kunoichi looked over at him. She knew very well that it was bad practice for interrogators to reveal how much time had passed. The disorientation of timelessness was part of what helped them break people down.

Tsunade shook her head, and silently added disorientation to the list of symptoms Sakura was displaying. That and a complete inability to maintain internal monologue, but that didn't go very well into a list of symptoms. Better to leave it at disorientation/hallucinations.

Honestly, it wasn't that uncommon for a ninja who had a rough mission to wake up and believe themselves under a genjutsu, or in an interrogation set-up. Only thing more common was for a ninja to lash out at medics who came close while they slept.

Naruto leaned forward, resting his head against the glass. It was cool to the touch, and he was welcome for the relief. The cool glass gave him something to serve as a talisman from the thoughts he didn't want to be having. "This is my fault."

Well, Tsunade wasn't about to deny that.

Jiraiya, however... "Boy, you didn't do a damned thing. It's his fault."

Naruto snorted. "Which him? Sasuke, Orochimaru, or the fox? All three are good runners up, but I still say I'm the champ at this point."

"Orochimaru, of course. Who else?"

"Orochimaru didn't make you train me to use the Kyuubi. I did." He looked at Sakura's reflection, his head still against the window. "I got impatient, and turned to a demon to get stronger. Now she's paying for it. Just like she's the one who paid for Sasuke's betrayal."

Okay, now that was a little further than Tsunade was willing to let his pity party go. "Last I saw the charts, you're the one who got a Chidori shoved through your right lung." Logic was her friend, her ally, it was tool good shinobi used with abandon, and medic-nins relied on it constantly. She knew Naruto well enough to know it wouldn't mean squat.

She was right.

Twice in one mission he'd failed her. He'd broken his promise, again. He'd failed in bringing Sasuke back to her, again. They'd had the bastard right in front of them, just waiting for them to knock him out and drag his sorry ass back. And he couldn't do it. He wasn't strong enough.

And he'd hurt her. He'd lost control of himself. No, he'd _let_ himself be taken by Kyuubi's power, his bloodlust. He'd wanted to let go. To just kill. Kill Orochimaru. Kill Kabuto. Kill anyone who got in his way. For a short time, he had let himself slide into the madness that Gaara had slipped into, to just kill and kill without reason. At this rate, he might just get his wish. He might have killed her by using the Kyuubi's power.

There is a little known, yet often observed quality of tension. Mix a medium sized portion of it into a small room, stir well, let sit, and it turns into an oppressive weight. The jumbo-sized portion that filled the room right now was nearly suffocating.

Haruno Kasumi had almost forgotten that tension could do that. Almost. She vaguely remembered sitting sessions like this with fallen comrades and teammates. Sometimes they would make it. Sometimes they wouldn't.

That it was her daughter at the center of the room's tension blew every one of her previous hospital vigils out of the water. None of them compared to this.

The blond ninja, Uzumaki Naruto, hadn't said anything since his comment about the demon. She didn't really care at the moment. She'd get worry about him and the Kyuubi once she was done sitting a vigil over her daughter.

Jiraiya watched his apprentice. The boy's eyes were closed as leaned against the window. He was muttering so softly, he doubted the boy himself could hear what he was saying.

Unfortunately for him, a room full of ninja with more years of experience than he had years of life is a hard crowd to deceive. One thing Jiraiya had picked up over the years was how to read lips. And so he knew what Naruto was planning as he left the support of the window, and then the tension of the room. Sighing, he squeezed Tsunade's shoulder, and slipped out of the room. The boy's father had entrusted him with duties, and the boy was too close to let him die now.


	2. Poisons

Chapter 2: Poisons

"Listen, kid, don't do this to yourself." Jiraiya said, as he caught up to Naruto in the hallway. The blond ignored him, continuing down the corridor.

It was times like this that Jiraiya remembered why he didn't take apprentices any more. Teenage hormones. Coming to a decision, he grabbed the blond ninja by the collar of his shirt, and pinned him to the wall. Naruto's hands came up to Jiraiya's arm, fingers digging into tendons, trying to force the hand to release.

"Want to listen now?" Jiraiya asked the blond. The shock blue eyes, shadowed by guilt were far more devastating to Jiraiya than the kick to the gut that Naruto followed them up with. He twitched a little, and then slammed Naruto back into the wall even harder. The blond jerked at the force, before settling for glaring at his sensei.

For a moment, Jiraiya was thirty years younger. The man he had pinned to the wall was named Arashi, not Naruto. But the guilt in those eyes was just as intense. And it was just as misplaced.

Gauging that the blond firecracker was at least considering the virtues of reasonable thinking, Jiraiya let him off the wall. Ignoring the stares of hospital staff, he put a hand on the shoulder of his apprentice, gently guiding him to the cafeteria. Not the best place for a private conversation, but it would do in a pinch. Besides, if he played his cards right, he could collect some data while he was reading his apprentice the riot act.

* * *

"What makes you think threatening hata-kiri will make the fox help you?" Jiraiya demanded, once they had sat. The tea wasn't anything special, but it was drinkable, and the dango was at least tolerable. 

If he hadn't been certain that something was wrong, Naruto's present actions would have made him certain. The boy was playing with his food, fiddling with the glass of water. Nothing too spectacular, if it weren't ramen that he was toying with.

"Because he's an arrogant bastard. If it means he'll survive a little longer, he'll do anything." Naruto stabbed at a piece of floating vegetable as he cursed the fox. Jiraiya sighed. He was wallowing, no doubt about that. The boy took a long drink of water, emptying the cup.

A guilt bath was not Naruto's usual thing, but considering the situation, it wasn't exactly unexpected. And his reasoning was fairly sound. From what he had learned of Kyuubi from his two and a half years of training the jinchuuriki to use its powers, self-interest was the best leverage to use on the fox.

"Kid, it sounds good, but you've gotta make the fox believe the threat is real. Otherwise, he'll call the bluff."

Naruto's laugh was a little cold, and very forced. "Oh, he'll buy it. I'm using a poison."

Something about Naruto's attitude on the issue. Like he'd already won, and was just waiting for you to realize his Kage Bunshin had just shoved a kunai in painful places. That was Jiraiya's first warning.

"Don't tell me you."

The laugh was barking, fox-like. "I'm a ninja, aren't I?"

"When?" For a moment, Jiraiya considered dragging the boy to Tsunade, and having his apprentice hospitalized. But he knew that wouldn't help.

Naruto pointed to the empty glass of water in front of him. Jiraiya hadn't seen him drop it in.

Boy was getting better all the time.

"I've got 6 hours before the antidote won't work."

Jiraiya sighed in relief. At least he'd thought to get the antidote ahead of time.

"So, we gonna talk to the fox yet?"

"Go back to your apartment boy. I'll get the incense, and meet you there."

* * *

The twinge of pain, and accompanying muscle jerk, startled Orochimaru. Pain was not an unfamiliar feeling to the Sannin, but it wasn't something he had encountered often in the past thirty years. A second twinge allowed him to identify the source. The shallow claw-mark where that boy, Naruto, wasn't it. It was so difficult to keep track of all the Konoha ninjas he had yet to kill. But he was fairly certain Naruto was his name. It was where the boy had managed to catch him with a claw during their duel near the remnants of Teichi bridge. 

The wound was shallow, and should have been well on its way to healing. That it was causing him pain disturbed Orochimaru a bit. He had learned something about bijuu during his stint with Akatsuki. Enough to know that each one's powers had different effects on their victims, and users. He had expected the wound to heal by now, honestly. Time to call the medical expert.

Kabuto heard the snake master's explination with well-veiled concern. What Lord Orochimaru had told him about the bijuu over his years as the man's personal medic-nin and assistant had him worried for the Otokage. He had taken a hit from a bijuu, whose powers they only barely knew, and hadn't had Kabuto look at it? Foolish beyond measure. He'd definitely let his master hear about that one later.

Powering up a diagnostic jutsu, he began his examination. It took only a few moments before he realized what was happening.

"This could be bad, Lord Orochimaru."

Orochimaru's response was cut off by an unexpectedly powerful twinge. His entire thigh jerked. "What's happening to me."

"The Kyuubi's chakra is acting like a poison. It's mixing with your own chakra, and causing it to destroy your chakra coils."

Orochimaru frowned. In most cases, it would be fatal at this point. Chakra poisons were notoriously difficult to counteract. His dear teammate, Tsunade, had developed a universal antidote once, but it had to be applied within 18 hours.

Considering how far past the 18 hour mark they were, the only thing that would know how to counteract the effects would be the Kyuubi itself. Somehow, he couldn't see that Naruto boy being too willing to give him a clue on the antidote.

Fortunately, he wasn't most cases. "Get Sasuke. We'll just have to undergo the transfer earlier than anticipated."

Kabuto hesitated for a moment. "That may not be possible, Lord Orochimaru. The damage to your chakra coils is already fairly severe. Considering the extent of the damage, I'm not certain you'd be able to overcome Sasuke to make the transference."

"Get me Sasuke!" He snarled, about to move to his feet before another twinge brought him rudely back into the chair, the entire leg jerking.

"He's not going anywhere, Lord Orochimaru. If you have to wait another three years for him, so what? He'll just get stronger."

His eyes slid closed for a minute at that thought. Yes. The boy was young still, his body not quite yet at the point of having finished growth. By the time he could perform transference again, the boy's body would be entering its prime.

Perfect.

"Get me a body." Orochimaru growled, before he lay back in the chair.

Kabuto nodded, and slipped away.

* * *

"You sure you know what you're doing, boy?" 

"Of course! I'll get that damned fox to help me, just watch."

As Naruto settled into meditation, Jiraiya shook his head. The boy had always been happiest when he was _doing_ something. Indecision was his greatest bane. Now that he was acting on his resolve, it was like the guilt had been erased.

No, erased wasn't accurate. He knew Naruto better than that. The guilt had merely been pushed aside. It'd come back to him later, Jiraiya knew.

As the boy's face slackened even further than the relaxed state of a meditative trance, he knew that Naruto had reached the catacombs of the Kyuubi. Now all he could do, was sit and wait.

* * *

The water of the sewers was up to Naruto's calves, as he opened his eyes. The Kyuubi's aura of intimidation was an impressive force, even when he had no body to intimidate with. Naruto could feel a touch of fear chattering in the back of his mind. He stabbed the small voice to death as he walked down the path to the Fox's cage. He knew where to find the beast, of course. 

He didn't make it much of a habit coming to face down the demon lord imprisoned in his body. He wasn't the best of conversationalists, as he spent most of his time cursing the Yondaime, and threatening to eviscerate Naruto if he ever got too close.

And his conversational skills proved to be no better one Naruto asked him how to counteract the chakra's poisonous effects.

Naruto stood quiet, calm. It was hard to guest time in this place, he had learned over time. What he did know, however, was that time was slower than normal when he came here during danger, and faster than normal when he came here through meditation.

Once the fox had exhausted things he could do to Naruto with merely his right claws, he moved on to his left. The shinobi decided he might as well speak now, or he'd never get a chance.

"Out of curiosity, fox, how long have I been here, in real world time."

The kitsune's eyes glowed for a moment, before lowering down to Naruto's level. A huff of breath carried the scent of death and rotted meat. Naruto's face twisted, but he didn't react. "**About two hours, brat. Why?"**

Naruto chuckled. Obviously Kyuubi wasn't paying much attention to the situation in his jail cell of a body right now. "I just wanted to know how much longer I'll have to listen to you rant before we die."

He had been imprisoned in this human flesh-sack for its entire life. He knew it better than it knew itself. That statement was bait. But the flesh-sack was a shinobi, even if he was relatively incompetent as one. There had to be a reason he was laying bait. Better to find out what it was before continuing.

Sending senses honed by thousands of years of battle prowling through the body, Kyuubi felt time in the mortal world slipping by rapidly. He hated it when the flesh-sack meditated. It always slowed down a demon who was possessing when their host meditated.

His senses told him to take a second look at the human's blood. Doing so, he snarled in anger, hatred… And above all else, fear.

There were few things he couldn't heal the boy of, but poison was right on top of the list. And he knew it. Thus why he had used it.

"**Are you mad?"** Kyuubi snarled at the boy, as his red eyes snapped back open, his senses withdrawing from their search of the body.

"Yes. I'm furious, in fact. Mad enough to kill myself. Unless you tell me what I want to know."

"**Why should I?"**

"How much time did that check take you?"

Kyuubi growled, before checking on the mortal world time again. "**Another one of your hours."**

Naruto thought about that for a moment, and smiled. Putting his arms behind his head, his smile grew into a full-blown grin. "Because in three more of 'our hours' the antidote won't work."

"**Get out there, and use that antidote, you miserable human flesh-sack."**

"Not until you tell me what I want to know."

Kyuubi growled. The brat had balls, but the demon had experience. The brat would crack before he did. "**You're bluffing. You won't die yet. You've still got to keep your fool promise."**

Naruto's grin shifted to a smile that Kyuubi could have sworn would have been more at home on his own face. "Sakura will die if you don't answer my question. So it won't really matter if I die before her or after her, will it? Can't bring Sasuke back to her if she's dead."

And suddenly, Kyuubi knew, with terrifying certainty, that the boy was quite willing to let the poison run its course in his blood. Still, he had to try to save face. "**What about becoming Hokage? Would you lose that chance, too?"**

"To save Sakura? You know that answer, fox."

And he did. He knew the kit better than the kit knew himself. Or at least, he thought he had. But the kit had surprised him. Like he surprised all his foolish flesh-sack friends.

"**Very well. Listen closely."**

Grinning in triumph, Naruto let the fox's instructions engrave themselves in his mind. He didn't need to actively pay attention. Not for Sakura.

* * *

When Naruto finally opened his eyes, and gave his sensei a cheeky smile, the toad hermit wasn't entirely certain whether he wanted to kill him slowly, or quickly. But killing himwas definitely on the agenda. 

Jiraiya shoved a glass of water into Naruto's hand. He smiled, and dropped a small pill into it. Swirling the cup a bit, he watched as the water turned a violet purple. Shrugging, he downed the glass. And then the taste hit him.

Struggling for a moment, Naruto managed to force himself to swallow. Jiraiya laughed. "Oh ho, maybe you won't go poisoning yourself now, will you?"

Naruto shook his head, clearing the cobwebs of meditation. "Maybe. But I know how to cure Sakura!"

Jiraiya's facial expression softened slightly at his apprentice's joyous proclamation. "Well then… Lets get to it."


	3. Ruins of the Kitsune

Chapter 3: Deployment.

Tsunade had finally managed to wrench herself away from her bed-ridden apprentice. Part of her, a large part of her, demanded that she go back. Demanded that she do what women had been doing throughout all time, damn it.

But another part of her, just as large and boisterous as its opponent, reasoned that her mother was quite capable of performing the maternal role to her young apprentice. After all, she had given birth to the girl. And, on top of that, she had work to do. Paperwork sleeps for no one.

Particularly since it doesn't sleep.

She had managed to force herself through two piles of the paperwork, with no end in sight, when Jiraiya came through the door, right behind his apprentice.

Tsunade wasn't quite certain what to do about Naruto. After all, her adoptive brother had, however inadvertently, put her apprentice into the hospital. It was a decided conflict of interests between killing him, and merely maiming him.

"What do you want?" She asked, trying not to be cold and failing. She knew that Naruto probably felt worse about this than she did, but it didn't help. It was still her apprentice lying on a hospital bed. Still her apprentice whose mother was in a near breakdown at bedside. Still her apprentice whose body was slowly shutting down from a poison running through her body. Still her apprentice whose chakra coils were beyond the hope of human repair.

Naruto flinched, as if he could hear the thoughts Tsunade had tried to keep from her voice. Something about his expression said that he didn't blame her for her anger. But then again, Naruto had plenty of practice at not blaming people for being angry with him.

Jiraiya put a hand on the shoulder of his apprentice, calming him, and signaling him to let the older ninja take over. Tsunade made a cutting gesture with the edge of her hand. "Let him say it himself, Jiraiya. If he wants to try and apologize to the wrong person, at least he can have the spine to do it himself."

"I'd rather apologize to the right person, once she's all right."

That stopped her cold. Naruto had surprised her again. He did that to people. "How do you think that miracle's going to happen?" Biting, almost as venomous as Orochimaru had been during his time in Konoha. Jiraiya winced for his apprentice. The boy shrugged it off this time, and Jiraiya inwardly applauded him. He was capable of shrugging it off when he needed to. Jiraiya wished he had been able to learn that skill.

"Because I managed to convince the fox to tell me where to find a cure."

The battery of realistic hope from the boy in front of her had Tsunade punch-drunk. He continued on, taking advantage of his opening.

Tsunade shook her head. This was worth listening to. "Where."

"Some ruins, in the forests above the monument. Half an hour for civilians, according to the bastard fox."

"Meaning about ten minutes for a ninja."

"Yep!" Naruto smiled, and for a moment, Tsunade actually believed that it was his normal, chipper grin. But no, that hell-for-leather grin was only shadowed at in this smile. It was too pained to be Naruto, yet she knew it was.

Jiraiya looked at Tsunade, and frowned. "I won't be able to go with him. I need to go dig around my information network."

"In other words, you need to go whoring."

"Akatsuki is at least two members down. That's gotta have them nervous. I need to find out what they're up to, if I can."

Tsunade nodded in agreement, before she looked at Naruto. "Fortunately, Danzou has reassigned Sai. I'll have Gai's team accompany you and Yamato to the ruins. You're leaving as soon as you're packed. Dismissed. RAIDOU! GENMA!" Tsunade said, as her hand grabbed at one of the standard mission forms in her drawer.

Naruto and Jiraiya left, as the Jounin appeared. "Ma'am?"

Not very likely that they're going to encounter any hostile nin this far into Fire country. Still, the Kyuubi is the one guiding them, which added a serious chance that things wouldn't be half as easy as they seemed. Plus there is a very strict time element to this trip. Sakura wouldn't last more than three days at this rate. Better go rank B

"I want you to get Maito Gai, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, Tenten and Yamato. They are needed here ASAP. Tell them to pack for a three day trip."

The jounin bowed, disappearing into the village.

Something about those ruins tickled at Tsunade's memory, as she tried to turn back to the paperwork. Sighing, she called for Shizune, and the two of them began digging through history.

* * *

How Genma ended up here was a question he always asked. Because, inevitably, he would be the one who had to get the Hyuuga prodigy, or heiress, or whoever was needed from their compound.

As he stepped into their courtyard, a Branch Family member motioning him through the doorway, he saw that Neji was, once again sparring with Hiashi. The older Hyuuga turned up one of his hands in a motion to stop, before he turned to the jounin. "Genma."

The brevity of the greeting didn't lend it any negativity, a talent that Genma always appreciated in the Hyuuga Clan Lord. "I'm actually here for Neji."

Hiashi nodded, as his nephew's eyes came up to meet those of his fellow jounin. The Hyuuga clan lord knew that this meant that his favorite sparing partner, although he would never admit it to the boy's face, was about to disappear for a while again.

"The Hokage wants you, stat. Pack for three days she said. You're probably leaving from there." Neji nodded, and turned to his uncle. As he prepared to speak, the Hyuuga Clan Lord flicked his wrist. "Go."

Neji bowed, and disappeared. Hiashi turned to the jounin messenger, and found that he was already gone.

* * *

Raidou had the easy task of finding Gai and Lee. All he had to do was listen for the screams of innocent bystanders, and the cries of the "Power of youth."

Finding them, was easy. Maintaining sanity, not so much so. As he finally managed to wedge a word in between the two sunset outlined men, he sighed in relief. That was over.

Then was rudely reminded that reality hadn't checked out of the building yet. As Gai and Lee went off to conquer with the power of youth, Raidou seriously considered cutting their youth short. Permanently.

Deciding that the satisfaction of shutting them up wasn't worth missing-nin status, he departed for his post at the Hokage's tower.

Maybe he could get her to make it an assignment? He'd have to ask her about that one day.

* * *

Team Gai and Yamato gathered in the Hokage's office. Naruto was already pacing on the roof, using the excuse of chakra control exercises. Tsunade was relieved that the other ninja had arrived. She was considering killing the very likely future Hokage at this rate.

"This'll be quick, you need to leave on this mission immediately." Tsunade said. The ninja didn't bother to sit, as Naruto flipped to the floor, facing her desk. "The mission is an A Rank. You're destination is the ruins just past the Hokage Monument."

"A-rank? I mean, the fox ain't trustworthy but still."

"Those ruins bugged me when you mentioned them, so me and Shizune went and looked them up. Turns out, that when Konoha was built, my grandfather sent a team to scout them out. Half of them died, and whatever the rest of them told him was enough that he had it declared a forbidden zone."

Naruto was impassive at this news. He had a goal, and even Kyuubi wouldn't have kept him from it. The rest of the team wasn't half as sure. "Dismissed."

The group was out of the room, onto the balcony, and off across the rooftops of Konoha.

Yamato slipped into a position beside the young jinchuuriki. "So, what's this about?" The rest of the team listened intently.

"Remember when I tagged Sakura back at Teichi bridge?"

Yamato nodded. Gai's team didn't have a clue. Sighing, Naruto gave them the bare-bones version. How he used Kyuubi's power to try and fight Orochimaru, who had surprised them by being there at all. How Sakura had rushed him to try and snap him out of the Kyuubi-induced blood-lust. How he had interpreted that as a hostile intent, and clawed her arm.

"The Kyuubi chakra slipped into her body through the wound, and now its poisoning her. She won't last too much longer at this rate. I managed to force Kyuubi into telling me where to find an antidote. He's decided to guide us."

"Oh, so the power of your youth convinced the demon to tell you!" Lee nodded, as he lunged into the next step. Naruto's laugh was not entirely cheerful, and was entirely at odds with the boy's normal attitude. They cleared the monument, and slipped into the forest. Silently, Naruto willed Sakura to hold on a little longer. He'd be damned if he let her die.


	4. History of the Kyuubi

Chapter 4: History of the Kyuubi

Kyuubi's time sense proved impeccable once again, as the group landed on the ground outside the fence. They were met almost immediately by a masked ANBU, who took the scroll when Gai handed it to him. Nodding, he handed it back to the jounin, and motioned them on. No gate existed to this fence, and the group of ninja lunged over it in a single leap.

The ruins had an eerily natural quality to them. It looked like they had simply sprung from the ground, carved and shaped into buildings as they had come up. The combination of artifice and growth was disturbing. The Kyuubi guided them to a wide staircase, flanked by a pair of broken statues. As they walked down the stairs, Naruto couldn't help but notice that the statues had what looked like fox tails.

By the time they reached the bottom of the stairwell, Naruto had come to the conclusion that whoever built these ruins had a stair fetish. And then promptly tried to get that out of his head, regretting his years with Jiraiya.

They very shortly ran into their first problem. A fork in the path.

"The power of our youth will carry us on!" Gai declared, as he pounded his palm with a fist. "We shall split up."

Yamato shook his head. "We have a guide, don't forget."

Naruto nodded, and shortly found himself in front of the Kyuubi.

"**Remember that saying about right and left?"**

"Right is wrong and left is right?"

"**Unless there is the symbol of a nine tails on the wall between the paths, that holds true."**

Naruto's eyes opened, and taking the lead, began guiding them down the left path.

And down more stairs.

"I think I'm developing a fear of staircases." Tenten muttered. Lee gave her an inquisitive look.

"Why, we've only gone down 205,857,320,982,347 of them. Your power of youth should still be burning strong!"

Tenten's eyebrow twitched, as she reached for a kunai. Neji grabbed her arm, shaking his head.

Naruto was more concerned with the room in front of them.

"Fox, care to tell me which door is supposed to be the one on the left?"

Kyuubi ground out a chuckle. "**None of them. Step into the center. Time to see if you can get the antidote at all."**

Ignoring the parting shot, Naruto noticed the seal on the ground. A fox pouncing, its nine tails flaring above and below it, encircling it. "**Step on it, boy"**

Cautiously, Naruto stepped forward.

Yamato watched the jinchuuriki, as he cautiously stepped into the center of the room. It was the first circular room they had come to, with six doors on the edges, including the one they had come out of.

In fact, if you ignored the door they were in front of, the doors were evenly spaced along the wall.

The seal below Naruto's feet suddenly came to life, the lines of the pouncing fox and its tails glowing, throwing up rays of light. A grinding noise echoed, and Yamato heard stone slam into stone, as the door behind him closed.

Neji turned, instantly counting heads. Gai, Lee and Tenten were all inspecting what had appeared to be doors, but were proving to be black stone slabs. That man, Yamato, was standing in front of the door that had just slammed, obviously as startled as the rest. And Naruto was standing in the center of the room, staring shocked at the glowing lights below him.

"Naruto, what did you do?"

"Not a thing."

The answer was not from Naruto. The boy's voice wasn't half that deep. His voice didn't sound like he gargled with pieces of bone, and he didn't have half that much deadly intent in his voice.

Naruto turned, slowly. Watched a familiar form step out the slab to the left of Yamato. "Shit."

Kyuubi's grounding chuckle resonated in the small room. "Relax, kit. I can't hurt any of you, as much as I wish I could. My soul is still tethered to you, for the most part. Just enough to make me non-corporeal, but not enough to have me influence the decision."

"Oh yeah? What decision?"

Kyuubi turned his attention to the black slabs. Naruto's curiosity got the better of him, and he followed the fox's eyes.

Glowing spheres had appeared in front of the five black slabs. The one to Yamato's right was blood red. Continuing to turn, Naruto saw a sphere of leaf green in front of the slab Neji had been examining.

Lee and Gai were staring at a sphere of glowing white, while Tenten was staring in wonder at a sphere of water blue. Kyuubi stepped aside, revealing a sphere of black so deep, it seemed to try and absorb light.

"These ruins are the remnants of an ancient civilization." Kyuubi began, circling the room.

Tenten snorted, as he passed. "Really, I thought that was kind of inherent in, ya know, being ruins. And how do you know about them."

"Because I destroyed them. And, before that, I was one of them. These ruins, are what's left of my people."

Naruto had the image of thousands of Kyuubi running around in these ruins. Somehow, he wasn't sure how they would fit, but he didn't ask. The fox would tell at some point. He never could resist feeling superior through his bragging.

"Care to listen, flesh-sacks. I might be convinced to tell you."

Naruto snorted, before he plopped onto the ground, watching the Kyuubi. Taking the hint, the rest of the group made themselves comfortable. Kyuubi snorted, then laid himself on the ground.

"This civilization was built upon a common religion, and ruled by a council of five, headed by the head priest."

"A theocracy?" Yamato asked. "There hasn't been a theocracy in eons."

"Not a human one." Kyuubi corrected, his tails twitching.

"That's great and all. But what does this have to do with the glowing dots, fox."

"Patience, kit. Those colors, according to the teachings of the Kitsune, each represent one of the five forces that drive every creature in existence. They teach that everything from the smallest insect, to the greatest of summoned creatures, and demons, are driven by at least one of these forces."

"And it's going to judge what drives Naruto to find the antidote?" Lee asked.

"No, but yes. It is going to judge which of these five forces exert the greatest pull on the kit. This room was used as a test for those who would aspire to become priests. It was required that they be guided only by the force of white."

"Ah! So they required that their priests be guided by the forces of good!" Lee nodded, sagely.

"No. None of these forces are inherently good, or evil. All of them come with the potential for both."

"So what are these forces?" Tenten asked, looking up at the blue sphere again.

Kyuubi shook his head. He _really_ didn't want to put up with these flesh sacks for eight hours.

"White, rather than a color of good, was the color of order. Justice, duty, fairness and equality" the Kyuubi nearly spat these words. "These are all white at its best. At its worst, it is fanaticism, willing to go to brutal lengths to enforce their rules and order on others. Like the Hyuuga clan."

Neji jerked his head up, glaring at the fox.

"Their obsession with controlling their precious eyes has developed a nice, orderly system. But outside the main family, they look like the controls of fanatics.

"Blue symbolized intellect. At its best, it is civilization. Information and knowledge compiled together for the common good. Orochimaru, however, is a good example of the evil in blue. His thirst for knowledge is so great, he will sacrifice anything, anyone, for it. He's got the right idea, I think." Kyuubi's grin was malicious.

"You just like destroying things." Naruto growled. Kyuubi's grin spread even wider.

"That's passions. We're getting there. But black represented power. The theory that you could do what you wanted until someone stopped you." Kyuubi tried to ignore Lee and Gai's crowing about the passion of youth.

"How can that theory not be bad?" Naruto asked. Kyuubi stared at the kit, and laughed. A barking, roaring laugh that echoed off of the ceiling. Naruto scowled. "What's so funny, fox?"

"You'll get the antidote. I'm sure of it. And as for your answer. Before Orochimaru used his cursed seal on him, your friend Sasuke was at least partly black. He wanted power to do what he believed was right, to avenge his clan, and restore it. And Akatsuki serves as a good example of black at its worst. Anything that they can use to get power, including lives, is worth sacrificing."

"No kidding." Naruto muttered. That they hadn't gotten to Gaara in time still rankled, even if he was alive still.

"Passions was represented by red." Kyuubi moved his chin towards the sphere. "You and I are good examples of red, kit. Both of us find power in our emotions. But the emotions you draw upon are those that are thought of as good, like friendship and compassion." Kyuubi had to struggle with the words. Naruto somehow knew they weren't things he was used to saying.

"I am fueled by those thought of as bad. Anger, rage, destruction." Kyuubi closed his eyes, purring as the words rolled off his tongue. Naruto shuddered at the almost sensuous pleasure of the fox at the thoughts. After a moment, the demon seemed to remember himself, and shook.

"The natural world was symbolized in green. The natural progression of life and death, growth and decay. They wished to maintain the natural balance in everything, both the world and individuals. At its best it was a selfless healing force. But it could become so obsessed with the thought of preserving the natural that it would destroy whatever it perceived as unnatural. Even if that wasn't, in fact, the truth." The disgust in his voice was tangible, as he turned his head to face away from his jailor.

"Is that what happened to you?" Naruto asked the Kyuubi.

The demon's head jerked up, staring hard at the boy. He'd forgotten, again, that naivety and stupidity were not the same thing.

"Yes." Kyuubi said, setting his head down. Ignoring the inquisitive eyes of every one of the pathetic flesh-sacks. He didn't need to say anything.

Really, he didn't.

Oh, all right!

"As I said, the Kistune priests taught that all creatures were born with at least one guiding color. But many were born with two. It was also believed, with good reason, that all Kitsune were born with at least one of their elements, as white.

"The elements were arranged in a circle for a reason. The colors on either side of a given color, were natural allies to its guiding force, in one way or another. Those across the circle from it, were its natural enemies."

"So you were born with red and white?" Naruto asked. The Kyuubi snorted.

"No. Many Kitsune were born with that combination of color. They went on to become warriors, defending their people against all enemies. I was born a complete anomaly. I was black and red."

The room around them wavered, as Kyuubi stretched out his powers. And suddenly, they found themselves in the base of a stone tree. A kitsune woman lay, recovering her breath after the exertion of birth. A second kitsune, clothed in a flowing green cloth similar to Sakura's old Chinese-style dress, held a child. Smiling, she set it in a basket. The pupils of her eyes began to glow, a green and a white dot spinning in the center.

And, eyes widening, she screamed.

"Remember white at its worst? Fanaticism reared its ugly head."

Naruto didn't have to listen to what Kyuubi described next. It was too familiar.

It was his own childhood.

And everyone in the room knew it.

"Finally, I left, swearing I would get power, no matter the cost."

The young kitsune, fur black as night in the horde of white and cream coated foxes, ran, head covered by his hands. A stone bounced off his back, knocking him to the ground. He rolled to his feet, and kept running.

"Sounds like Sasuke is just like you. Seeking power for vengeance." Naruto said, looking at the fox.

The demon mulled on that for a moment. "No. Vengeance isn't a passion. The anger that spawns it is, but the vengeance that powers your precious friend Sasuke is a state of mind."

"A blue." The fox was impressed. The kit could learn. Who knew?

"Yes. I went, and eventually gained power beyond their reckoning. For you see, I had met a woman of great power. I had, in fact, become the mate to a goddess of destruction."

A woman appeared, tall, and skinny. A black and green yin and yang symbol replaced each pupil. And by her side, stood the black furred kitsune.

"But she asked for proof of my, passions. I remembered the pain of my youth in this place. She saw the anger that it still burned in me. . And gave the power to seek my vengeance."

Kyuubi stood at the entrance to the city. Apparently, they knew he was there, because dozens of armored kitsunes charged him, swords flashing through the air. Every element imaginable arced through the air at the black-furred fox.

At the last moment, he was replaced by a white-furred fox, garbed in a black skin-suit. His confused eyes had just enough time to register horror at the forces coming upon him, before he was crushed under the weight of elemental attacks.

"And, well, you've walked through what happened"

Standing between two identical statues, two of the white priests in their ceremonial garb, Kyuubi blew the tops off of the two statues, before heading down the stairs.

"I followed the scent of their fleeing survivors to this very room. Stepping into the center, I waited. I could smell them from beneath the very panel of floor you stand on."

The black-furred kitsune watched as the spheres disappeared. The black and red ones lit up again. And instead of the panel beneath his feet letting him into the hiding place of the kitsune survivors, a massive crystal lowered out of the roof.

A blinding flash of light, and raw energy was slammed into the room.

"I was nearly killed by their trap. But my mate saved me. She considered my proof adequate, and gave me the power I wanted."

"You call me Kyuubi like it is some kind of demon. While it may have come to mean that over the course of time, in the beginning, it was nothing more than a name. In the language of the Kitsune, Kyuubi is the Darkest One."


	5. Inquisition

Chapter 5: Inquisition

Sleep came hard that night to some, and quite easily to others. Yamato was the sole exception, comfortable as he was in the knowledge that he could control the bijuu if necessary. Gai still woke up in sweats occasionally, remembering the desperate battle to slow the demon fox from reaching their village. Still, he knew Naruto. They had been lucky that the boy was his container. No one else could have done as well.

Gai's team's reactions were mixed. Lee had absolute faith in Naruto. He had seen the boy fight against overwhelming odds a dozen times or more, and never blink as he won. If the fox were being contained by the boy, then Kyuubi could do nothing to them.

Neji had heard stories about the Kyuubi's assault from elders in the clan. Hyuuga had suffered many more casualties than they were used to in that battle. The had learned, the hard way, that their clan was absolutely worthless against bijuu, whose chakra couldn't be shut down. After all, it was what they were made of. To say that he was nervous around a creature whom he knew that he could do nothing against was an understatement.

Konoha's weapon's mistress found the fox's egotism amusing, particularly since it gave her so many opportunities to insult him.

And as for Naruto, well, the fox wasn't all that impressive to the boy. For obvious reasons. However, he found himself unconsciously replaying the fox's story, wondering why he had said so much without a single death threat in the mix. It wasn't like the beast, that was certain.

Eight hours can be an amazingly fast period of time, or a snail's crawl. This was one of the many facts of reality that shinobi became acquainted with over their lifetimes. In Naruto's case, these eight hours passed by relatively fast. The first indicator that something was happening was when all five spheres disappeared. Kyuubi's head came up. "**Right on time.**"

Naruto slowly stood up, as the others dragged themselves to waking states. For a long moment, there was nothing. The five spheres flashed back into existence for a brief second, before three faded away.

Left behind, were the red. And the white.

Naruto felt his heart fall through his feet. Damn it! No! If he couldn't get in to get the.

A grinding noise cut off Naruto's inner rant. Kyuubi shook his head, and stood up. "**Elevator going down"**

The remaining ninja jumped onto the platform, as it descended. Kyuubi snorted, as his form disappeared. Back to his flesh and bone jail.

* * *

The elevator stopped its descent a little less than eight feet after it had begun. The walls surrounding the platform were broken only by an alcove off to one side. Naruto moved confidently towards it. No other way they could go, after all.

The alcove was small, and dusty. Dusty to the point where even the gold plating on the alter was a deep gray. Dusty to the point where even Naruto, naïve as he was, could see that only one of the glowing crystals that lit the entire underground labyrinth wasn't covered in the clinging, gray stuff.

He pushed the crystal experimentally, and was surprised when it slid smoothly back into the wall. As it did so, he portion of wall, and a small section of floor smoothly slid away, throwing a snowstorm of dust into the air as they did so.

Sneezing followed.

Having finished with the sneezing, and having found that, much to Tenten's disapproval, there were more stairs, they made their way down the darkened staircase.

Descending stairs in the dark was something most shinobi learned to do. It was a talent they would have to apply in covert missions, after all. However, Naruto, as anyone who's familiar with him knows, is _not_ good at the talents of sneaking that go with covert missions. Thus Lee, who was directly behind his friend, had his hand at the ready, to grab him in the inevitable event he tripped walking down the stairs.

When he did finally fall, Lee's attempt to grab him did no good. Because, a second later, a bolt of pure white energy struck him in the chest, and he, too fell unconscious.

* * *

Kitsunes have a thing for round shapes. Partly, its because of their belief system, and the arrangement of the five forces in a circle. Partly, its because there is a little known fact that they are as closely related to smaller cats as they are to foxes. Many a kitsune, even in their older age, had been known to unknowingly wile away a day or four with a ball. Or eight. But that's another issue.

The high council's room was, not surprisingly, circular. In the center, on aplatform created through the gentle sloping of the floor, and lit by a large crystal overhead, sat the council members. As chairs had a tendency to squish tails, kitsune had long ago taken to large cushions, and they were as prone to curling up on them as sitting. But again, that's another issue.

The five council member's 'seats' were arranged in the circle of colors that forever governed their religion and lives. Across from the seat of the high priest, head of the 'white' kitsune, stood the only true door into the room.

Of course, it was rarely used. But in this case, they had made an exception, as they set up the intruders for the council's 'interview.'

As the last of the intruders was secured to the energy restraints, the five kitsune of the High Council watched without apparent interest. But appearances are, of course, deceiving.

The door closed as the lower ranked kitsune left. For a moment, nobody spoke, simply examining the five ninja. The restraints held enough distance between their arms and bodies to remove the possibility of grabbing anything out of a pouch, and the ninja's were spaced far enough apart that no two of them could get their hands close enough together to do a jutsu.

Finally, one of the kitsune moved. His fur had a blue-gray tint to it, and a pair of half-moon spectacles sat, perfectly at home on the bridge of his muzzle. The loose pants, complete with convenient tail holes, and tight tunic he wore, pale white and blue, were accompanied by a kimono that wasn't quite closed. He circled the six ninja, analyzing every detail.

"Well?" The speaker sat opposed to the empty cushions, his rust-red fur covered by a breast plate in the same color. Flowing, rust-red top, loose pants, and a kimono completed the obvious declaration of his position. A pair of katana handles jutted over his shoulders.

"They are human ninja." The kitsune said at last, "From the village of Konoha, I believe."

"Great! That's good. What the fuck are they doing here?"

"That, they would have to tell you." The kitsune said, as he curled up on his cushions.

The kitsune growled, hand instinctively edging towards his katanas.

"Arsinian, don't. In spite of Mitzurshi's best efforts, he doesn't know everything." An aged voice said, as it leaned forward. A tight black body-suit covered a body that was obviously suffering from the effects of age. A black kimono was wrapped tightly around the kitsune, as he held onto a walking stick that was more than just for show now.

* * *

Naruto's eyes slowly struggled to open as his ears were met with a low, yipping growl. The noise was oddly soothing, although he couldn't make out a blasted thing that it was supposed to mean.

Managing to wedge a couple toothpicks in between his eyelids, Naruto saw himself staring directly at a red fox wearing armor. And swords.

More growling, this time from the fox in front of him. It looked up at Naruto, and after a moment, growled again. A blue-clad fox made its way in front of the loud-mouth ninja, and began forming seals. Several moments later, the fox was holding a small, glowing kanji in its hand, which it then pressed against Naruto's forehead.

The ninja proved, then and there, beyond a doubt, that he had earned the title of 'Konoha's Louded Ninja.'

Several minutes later, after Naruto managed to get hearing back in his ears from the impressive echo of the large room, he was far more willing to speak normally.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to ask for help."

Naruto was surprised as he spun to face another kitsune, wearing black. His fur was the gray of a kunai, and he had a very ugly sneer to his face. "Why should we help you? Everyone must stand on their own two feet, with their own power. No one else's."

"Because my friend is dying." He spun again, the opposite way this time, and found himself facing another kitsune. In the back of his mind, he heard the fox growl slightly, and Naruto realized that the kitsune was a woman.

Her garb was similar to the one worn by the healer who birthed Kyuubi, although she was wearing a green kimono. Naruto realized, slowly, that it must be a symbol of rank. And affiliation.

"Death is a natural part of the cycle of life. You must accept that."

"I won't let my friend die. I still have a promise to keep."

He spun again, facing a cream colored kitsune, garbed in snow-white pants and an open kimono, along with a very obviously ceremonial amulet. Silver surrounding a green gem. "Just because you could not fulfill your duty does not mean we should break the order of things. Dying is a law of life. Breaking lifes laws causes chaos, and disrupts the natural order."

"It's not natural! She was poisoned."

Spun again, facing the blue kitsune. "You are a ninja. Poison is a common tool in your line of work. Your friend must have known that. If you can't figure out an antidote, why should we?"

"Because its your fault!" Naruto snarled. He was spun to face the red kitsune.

"Don't push the blame on us, boy! If you couldn't save your friend, be angry with the person who poisoned her, take it out on them. Not us."

"Damn it, I'm the one who poisoned her!"

There was a laugh. He was spun to face the black kitsune again. "So you were jealous of your friend? Is that it?"

"No!"

"Your friend had more power than you.You couldn't surpass her. So you decided to get her out of the way. You poisoned her. And now you can't bear to pay the price of power?" There was a barking laugh. "You don't deserve it."

Naruto roared. Red chakra flowed out from him, as his cheek stripes thickened. Fingernails grew into claws, as his eyes turned to a blood red, pupils slitting. His canines lengthened to fangs as he flung himself against the restraints.


	6. Gifts of the Kitsune

Chapter 6: Gifts of the Kitsune

Arsinian shortly found himself facing the snarling boy. A few quickly made seals, and he thrust his palm forward. Seven smoke-like tendrils flowed from the palm of his hand. The tendrils spread out, attaching themselves to eight points in a straight line. The crown of his head, forehead, right at the base of the throat, over the heart, the solar plexus, stomach, and right over his pubic bone. The ones at the heart, and stomach began to glow vibrantly, and within a few minutes, the boy's facial features began to settle back to their original state.

When Naruto finally reverted fully to normal, the seven tendrils detached. The fox leaned back into the cushions, tenser, but otherwise not obviously effected. Naruto was spun to face the blue clothed kitsune again.

The kitsune's voice was different. Almost reverent. "I'm going to ask you some questions. I want you to answer me truthfully. If you do, we will help you."

"Promise?"

"Yes. Was that red chakra just now Kyuubi?"

"Yes." Several of the kitsunes jerked at that response. Naruto didn't care what these people thought of him. It was for Sakura.

"How did he get inside of you."

Conscious that time was a factor to this mission, and that they had already burned a good bit, Naruto gave them the quick version.

"If your friend's poisoning from his chakra?"

"Yes."

The kitsune nodded. Clapping twice, a kitsune in the same blue tunic and white pants as himself appeared. This one, however, wore arm bracers, and had the pants tightly wrapped in blue bandages up to his ankles. "Go to the alchemists, order them to brew a dosage of antidote for Kyuubi's chakra poison. Also, go the master scribe, and have him translate the antidote to the modern surface language. Bring both to me."

The newcomer bowed upon receiving these instructions, and vanished. Just like a ninja.

"How did your friend come to be poisoned."

"It's a long story."

"We have time."

"I don't. My friend only had three days when we left, and we spent most of one going down staircases."

"We have far more efficient ways to get you out of here, and you haven't lost that much time. You'll have plenty of time to spare, ninja of Konoha. So, why don't you tell us your story?"

"Sure. But first… Could you let us down?"

* * *

Oali listened to his story with interest. By the time he got to the betrayal of his friend, he recalled the decree of the first High Priest after Kyuubi's attack.

The decree had been made in the expectation that the one fulfilling it would be a kitsune. But the duty it implied was clear.

By the time the boy had told them about his battle with his friend's manipulator, he had found a loophole in the decree. By the time the boy had finished, he was ready.

"In the years following Kyuubi's attack, a decree was made. Whoever would undertake to remove the threat of Kyuubi was to be given the support of all five orders in the form of a gift that he or she could use. As this boy has already removed the threat of Kyuubi, I believe we owe him something. Mitzurshi, you are the exception."

Arsinian burst out into laughter at this declaration. "Oali, you crafty son of a vixen. And as I recall, their own order was to gift heaviest." The green kitsune cut him off.

"Well, Arsinian. As he is red and white, that would be, you."

He paused for a moment. The laughter redoubled. "Well, I'll be tailless. You're right, Suvaile." He stood up for a moment, and moved to edge of the room. Sticking his head out the door, he began bellowing orders.

Suvaile shook her head as she stood up. Stepping up to the boy, she considered for a moment, and then produced half a dozen seeds in her palm. "If your friend is suffering from the effects of Kyuubi's chakra, then it will have already caused massive damage to her chakra coils. One of these seeds will restore them to normal. However, they are highly addictive, and taking more than three within as many years will cause the coils to break down. It grows in the same soil as sage." She closed them into Naruto's weapon pouch, and patted it.

A voice spoke, and she looked, confusedly at the boy. Since when had his voice raised that much in pitch?

After a second voice, in yet another tone, spoke up, he began speaking quickly, and realizing her mistake, Suvaile chuckled. "His friends are waking, finally."

"He is the most powerful of them."

"Only if he's willing to turn himself over to the Darkest One, Reidaul. Not all of us are willing to go to such lengths for power."

"He did it once."

"He had good reason."

"Well, anyways. Guess I'd better give him my gift."

The restraints spun, and there was much noise making from the ninja over such treatment.

"Over the course of the years, boy, there have been members of my order who willingly made contracts with demons for power."

"One demon's enough, thanks."

"I wasn't offering you mine. The seal binding Kyuubi into you is much like a contract. Only difference is that it isn't voluntary."

"Really? I couldn't have guessed." The kitsune stood up, slowly, and knocked the staff on Naruto's head, quickly.

"Shut up, let me finish. On occasion, the demon and the kitsune would end up in a very dangerous power struggle. This would happen when the two of them shared one color in common, yet were also influenced by two opposing colors."

"Like me and Kyuubi?"

"Precisely. The two of you are both guided by your passions. Yet you are also guided by order. Kyuubi, on the other hand, is guided by chaos. Whenever your passions swing too much out of control, Kyuubi can force himself onto you. More accurately, that bloodlust that got your friend injured." The kitsune produced a scroll from the folds of his kimono. Unrolling it, he bit his finger, and ran a streak of blood down the approximate center. A few murmured words later, and he could no longer read the text. He showed it to the boy, "Can you read this?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I can!"

He nodded, and rolled the scroll up again. "This scroll contains techniques developed over the years to help kitsune in your situation. Techniques to help them resist the influences when it is unwelcome. Use them." Opening the boy's weapon's pouch, he stuck it in.

Mitzurshi made a quick series of seals, reproducing the same kanji he had pushed onto Naruto's head earlier. And then placed it onto his own head. Reidaul sat down, as the scholar began talking in what must have been their own language. Probably explaining to the now conscious ninja what was going on.

Arsinian stepped back onto the center platform, prompting more irritated noises. He was holding a set of bound scrolls, and a short sword. "Take these. They are all the fire and thunder chakra skills, what you call jutsu, that we use."

"No." Naruto said, looking the kitsune in the eye. "I don't take handouts." He grinned, a grin worthy a fox. "I work for my jutsus."

Arsinian smiled. The green kitsune shook her head. "Just like you, isn't he?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, you'll work plenty hard to learn these." He considered putting them into Naruto's weapon pouch, but decided better of it. Instead, he pulled out the black kitsune's scroll, and turned to the kitsune's bringing in back packs. After a brief bout of sniffing bags to identify the right one, he stuck the scrolls into it.

Turning back to the boy, he carefully strapped the sword around his waist. "This sword is the Gekkou. It is a blade that can be charged with chakra. It has never been broken, or even chipped. In fact, it is the only weapon surviving that tasted Kyuubi's blood when he attacked. Legends say that it was forged from a moonbeam."

The black kitsune watched impassively. Finally, he decided to ask the burining question on his mind. "What of you Oali? You have yet to fulfill your own obligation. Are you above paying your own price?"

The kitsune stood up. Walking over to Naruto, he reached up to his neck, and pulled off the amulet. "If you ever have need to send anyone here. Give them this. It will guide them, and guarantee their safety from our, trap. The guards will recognize it, and will grant them passage." That also went into Naruto's pack.

At this point, Mitzurshi's gift, in the form of antidote and recipe, arrived, and was also placed into the boy's pouch.

Finally, we can get them out of here, Reidoul didn't voice the thought. He was too old for this. If age didn't catch him soon, one of his subordinates would. Oh well, he'd do the honors.

Standing stiffly, he closed his eyes. "I'm going to send you all to the surface. The trip may seem long, but it will take only a few moments. You must not take your eyes from the light. Tell them that."

Naruto passed the message along. They were on their feet in an instant, collecting their packs with a military precision that impressed Reidoul. A little, anyways.

"Good bye." He muttered, as his hands flashed through seals. Arcs of black energy bounced between his hands, white light filling the space between them. Tossing it like he would a ball to a child, Reidoul watched as the arcs expanded rapidly. They surrounded the six ninja, and suddenly collapsed.

They were gone.

Reidoul crashed to his knees, hand gripping at his chest. He forced a breath into his lungs. And another. Another.

They watched tensely, as he slowly climbed to his feet. "There go another six years." He said, as he staggered to his cushions. Curling up, he turned cunning eyes on his fellow council members.

"Where were we?"


	7. Points of View

Quick AN: People, seriously. If you like this fic enough that you put it on your alerts list, click the little review button and give me your thoughts. If you didn't like the way something was done, let me hear about it. If you didn't think something made sense, let me know. I like to work answers to reviewer questions into the chapters, but I don't know to if you don't tell me.

Chapter 7: Points of View

Konoha's Godaime Hokage was known to have multiple flaws. No one really minded, it wasn't like all her predecessors hadn't as well, even if they were more willing to go to the effort of hiding them.

Her love of sake was of no concern to anyone. After all, the job was stressful, and who could deny her the chance to relax every now and then. Her gambling tendencies were a lovable quirk of a Hokage who had a few more than her fair share of them.

Her tendency to throw desks out the window, however. That one got to some people.

"The desk didn't do anything, Tsunade."

"What do you want, pervert."

The Toad Sannin put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "For you to calm down. That boy won't let anything stop him. You know that."

"He's running out of time! Sakura's dying."

"And he knows that. He still has two days. Trust me, my apprentice would die before letting yours do so. How do you think he got Kyuubi to cooperate?"

That got her attention. She looked at Jiraiya, who pulled out a small package, and put it in her hand. It was an empty poison container.

"He slipped that into his drink right in front of me. Sorry to say, I didn't even see him do it." She cocked an eyebrow at that.

"Naruto? Mr. Flashy himself slipped one over on the great information gathering machine? No whores to watch his hands for you?"

Jiraiya didn't bother blushing. "As flashy as he is, Naruto's capable of hiding things."

"They're generally exclusive of one another. All that smut-writing must be killing your ninja skills."

"Not necessarily. The best place to hide something's in plain sight."

"And how does that tie into Naruto?"

* * *

The team quickly materialized floating in the middle of a very grainy darkness. Their eyes immediately focused on a sphere of light floating in the distance. 

"Naruto, what was that about?" Yamato's voice cut through the air to his right. Naruto forced himself not to look at the older ninja.

"They gave us the antidote."

"But that does not seem to be all they gave you, friend Naruto." Lee said, his eyes riveted to the light. "Did the power of your youth impress them so much?"

"Of course Lee! The spring of youth cannot be resisted! Naruto must have shown them the power he possesses in the spring of his youth, and they could not help but wish to aid that power!"

"Oh please. It would have been five against one, and we were all bound. You really think he impressed them?"

"Tenten's right."

"See what I mean."

"But then why did they give you those, if not for the power of your youth, friend Naruto?"

"Some old law. Supposedly, whoever would try and get Kyuubi out of their hair would be given gifts to help them."

"And with the demon locked inside of you already, you figured they owed you." Neji said.

"Actually, I didn't know about it until the guy in white brought it up. Next thing I know, they're giving me stuff. Useful stuff, but still."

"How useful could that necklace be to you? Seems like you were cheated."

"Actually, it's a way to activate that elevator in the circle room without waiting eight hours. And without blowing people up if you're the wrong color."

"Oh… I guess not blowing people up is good."

"You guess, huh Neji?" Tenten smirked teasingly.

"Shut up."

* * *

Guard duty, was boring. And not generally work that sat well with ANBU. Especially the one on duty today. But considering the story behind the only truly forbidden area within Konoha's immediate area, he could understand the reasoning. Not that he particularly liked it. 

He had heard from yesterday's guard that a mission had been sent into the ruins, although he didn't really know why. He couldn't care less, although the Kyuubi brat was supposedly one of them.

Who knows, maybe he'd be one of the ones who didn't come back this time.

It wouldn't matter that much in the end, anyways. Lord Danzou's plans were coming along quite nicely, even after that set-back with 'Sai' breaking his orders. Soon enough, they would have the support needed in the council, and then they could get rid of the brat. And to dothat, that Kyuubi-loving Hokage, and all the ninja she had infected with her sickness had to go. Sure, they'd be lower on manpower than even during the worst point of the Rock war, but the survivors would all be elite, ANBU level ninja.

He heard the flitting of jumping ninja. Looking up, he saw the six who had entered the day before pass overhead. Oh well, he'd survived. He nodded, and returned to his watch.

* * *

Half a continent away, one of the only surviving pairs of Sharingan were searching for their sensei. He was late for their training, again. 

Even if he was much more powerful, the man was almost as bad as that silver haired, spineless pervert, Kakashi had been. Timeliness was not an attribute he weighed heavily upon.

His ears, in fact, found his sensei long before his eyes did. He strode confidently towards the door. A second voice was inside. Kabuto, no doubt.

His hand closed in on the door knob. Kabuto would have to suck it up.

"…Sharingan."

The word stopped Sasuke cold. Closing his eyes for a second, he pressed his ear to the door. They were discussing Itachi, they had to be!

"Three years is not that long, Lord Orochimaru, especially for you, with yourbody stealingjutsu. You've waited it once before. This is nothing more than a minor set back. Unlike Kimimaro, we have the Uchiha's medical records. Nothing will happen to Sasuke before you can claim him as your container."

"True. But those Konoha brats worry me. They don't know when to quit."

"He has already given into your seal, Lord Orochimaru. No one has ever broken free of it before."

"There is always a first time, Kabuto. We have never had someone quite like Sasuke under it. His will is as strong as Kimimaro's was."

"Kimimaro was dedicated to you."

"Sasuke is not. We both know that much."

"True. If you're so worried, why not reconsider with that Danzou person." A pause, "Isn't Sasuke expecting you to meet him about now?"

"He's probably gotten impatient. I'd better go, before he starts destroying this lair too."

Sasuke heard the shifting of a chair. That was all the signal he needed. Making sure not to jostle the door as he stepped back, he disappeared down the corridor.

* * *

Kakashi looked up tepidly at the nurse. Her perfume was driving him crazy. Stark raving bonkers. And not in a good way. He hated the scent of lavender. 

Hadn't always. But it had too many painful memories to it now. Faces that he couldn't bear to see but saw every time he went to stare at the memorial stone for hours on end and why the hell had he let her take that fucking mission to bust a slave ring and why hadn't he been able to tell her everything and why the hell couldn't his eye stop crying and why the hell wouldn't his words stop being so true and why the hell did his team have to be so much like them and why the hell wouldn't it all just stop.

"Are you okay sir? Can I get you anything?"

"I'm fine." He said, his eye curving into a smile as best as it could.

* * *

Black arcs of energy appeared in the center of the ruins, white filling the gaps between them. Moments passed, and they expanded. Moments more, and they disappeared, leaving six Konoha ninja in their place. 

"Let's go! We've gotta get this antidote to the old hag."

"Don't talk about Lady Tsunade like that!"

Naruto suppressed a laugh, as they burst into a run. Lunging over the fence, Tenten saw an ANBU nod at them, before returning to watch. Taking to the trees, they made their way for home.

* * *

"I'm sure you've heard of Naruto's talent for pranks when he was younger." 

"Of course. One of the reports says that he 'defaced the Hokage Monument.'"

"Hey, they could use the paint job. The point is that he's developed a real talent for keeping your eyes where he wants them to be."

"Right on him, where he can't sneak anything by you."

"Except that he does, constantly. Even with people who know to be expecting it. He muttered something about it in Sakura's room before he left. I read his lips. I knew what he was planning."

"And he still slipped it by you? Your skills are slipping."

"He kept my eyes on his ramen by not eating it. He fiddled with the water a bit, but I was watching the ramen."

Tsunade paused at that. Considering Naruto, him not eating ramen would have been worrying.

"He was even toying with it. Normal enough, but I figured he was trying to stir in poison. Poking at a few things to keep up the semblance of the act, but mostly just swishing it around."

The Hokage's eyes widened a little. Shaking her head, she grinned a little. "He is a crafty brat, isn't he?"

"Like a fox. Hiding in plain sight."

The door opened as Genma and Raidou wordlessly carried the Hokage's desk back into the room. Jiraiya and Tsunade watched the two jounin. A grin split Jiraiya's face. "See what I mean."

Tsunade slowly turned to face Naruto, grinning cheekily from outside her shattered window. "Got it, granny!"


	8. Reporting In

Chapter 8: Reporting In

Ninja do not cry. Not publicly. If you have to cry, do so in the privacy of your apartment, and even then, check first. This training was so engrained in Kasumi that she couldn't even bring herself to cry in front of her husband.

Mothers, however, are another issue. And as she watched Sakura, her muscles beginning yet again to jerk violently, eyes open and painfully aware, she found herself crying.

She remembered watching another ninja die much like this once. During a boarder skirmish with the Cloud. A bolt of lightning pinned the poor child's back to a tree. He had jerked and screamed, eyes wide open as his muscles stopped being his own, and launched open rebellion.

It hadn't been pretty. And it had haunted her nightmares for years before she had finally managed to purge it with other nightmares.

Somehow, she knew that this one wouldn't be purged for a long time to come.

The door behind her embedded itself into the wall as it was flung open. She turned, face loosing all expression even as tears continued to streak it. The Hokage made her way to her apprentice's bedside, a small ceramic flask in her hand.

Behind her, came Naruto. The blond ninja stepped to the bedside of his teammate, worry and calm dueling in his eyes. Kasumi wasn't sure whether to be disgusted at the gall to come here after his admission of guilt, or be touched by the concern he had.

"Sakura." Tsunade said, looking at her apprentice's eyes. "Can you hear me? Do you understand?"

The pink-haired kunoichi struggled with the muscles of her jaws for several long minutes, trying to force them open against their reflexive snapping. Tsunade was about to tell her not to talk, afraid that the snapping jaw would catch her tongue, when the burst of muscle seizure passed. A shuddering breath was followed by a croaking confirmation.

"We have an antidote. I'm going to give it to you now." Tsunade said, as she took the wax seal off of the ceramic flask. "Swallow." She ordered, as she put the flask to her lips, pulling away only when the girl had finished the mixture.

"Tastes like Kakashi cooked it." She muttered. None the less, a flush colored her skin, as blood began to flow again. Naruto snorted. "Where'd you find an antidote?"

"Where else? I strong-armed the fox."

"I can't see Kyuubi taking well to bullying."

"Hey now!" Tsunade said. "It's still illegal to talk about that, little missy. Even if you're bedridden, and his teammate. Geez, breaking the law right in front of the Hokage. This generation has no respect."

Naruto did what he always did when Tsunade chastised him. Cheerfully ignored it. "Who said anything about bully? He's an egocentric bastard, you just gotta make it worth his while."

"What did you agree to give him, Naruto." Sakura asked, as she tried to sit up. Naruto put a hand on her forehead, and gently pushed her back down, but didn't answer the question.

"I'll be back in a while. The old hag over there wants me to write up a prospective report." He said, making his way to the door.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about these." Naruto reached into his weapon pouch, and pulled out a small, oblong seed. "They said to have her take this once the antidote had done its thing. Something about damaged chakra coils."

Tsunade's eyes brightened as she nearly snatched the seed from Naruto's hand. "Go write that report, you brat." Naruto's fox grin split his lips, as he leisurely strolled away.

"Why do you need a prospective report from him? Did Kyuubi act up?"

"You obviously don't care that you're breaking the law."

"No one else in this village cares that they're breaking the spirit of it, why shouldn't I break the word of it? I know him better than they do." Sakura coughed, hard. Kasumi helped her sit up, as she saw black globules fly from her mouth onto the sheet.

Tsunade frowned, but didn't comment. Hopefully that was a sign that the antidote was working, and not that it was having a negative effect on her human body. Well, one way to find out.

Sitting down next to Sakura on the opposite side of her mother, she called up a diagnostic jutsu with a thought, running it over her apprentice.

Kasumi watched the face of stern concentration with a touch of fear. Nothing that concentrated could be good. That was the face of a senior ninja when he knew he was about to lose a fight, or a good friend. The face of a ninja who knows he just missed his one chance to assassinate his target. The face of a ninja who was about to die.

Tsunade sighed, as she pulled away her hand, and managed to restrain herself from shaking her head in relief. "It's working. I'm going to guess that black gunk is the poison being thrown out."

"It hurts enough to be that." Sakura ground out. "You didn't answer my question."

Tsunade sighed. "Kyuubi was more key to this mission than I would have liked, but that's to be expected with the nature of… what happened. However, according to Gai and Yamato, there was an extended portion of time when Naruto was the only one awake, and apparently faced interrogation. I need to know what happened."

"What kind of interrogation?"

"That's what I want to know. We wouldn't be able to tell if it was physical or not with Naruto unless he told us." Tsunade sighed, and shook her head. "He's such a pain sometimes."

"You're telling me." Sakura muttered, before another cough racked through her.

* * *

Tsunade was still sitting in Sakura's hospital room, a small mountain of paperwork waiting with her, when Naruto came in with his perspective report. Kasumi Haruno had left by this point, but was replaced by her husband, Gosei.

Something about having been living on his own all his life had made Naruto very capable at navigating bureaucracy, particularly as they enjoyed putting extra paperwork in his way before he could do anything. He had gotten very good at finding out exactly what paperwork was necessary for anything, and was quite willing to bull-headedly argue away the paperwork that just to make his life difficulty.

A perspective report, he knew, was not one of those he could argue away. On any mission where written reports were given, separate reports were given for anytime that the team was forced to split up, or whenever a member of the team might have a different view on a situation. Shikamaru, he knew, often ended up writing perspective reports on deep strategic analysis.

Having handed in his report to the Hokage, Naruto settled wordlessly into the seat next to Sakura, across from her father. The girl's eyes were open, although she hadn't said anything to Naruto when he came in.

"Shouldn't you be training or something?" Sakura's voice was stronger than it had been several hours before.

"Probably. But still…" Naruto couldn't look in her eyes. Couldn't let her see him without his mask. No ninja could let themselves be seen without their mask.

Sakura watched Naruto as he turned to watch the people passing in the hallway. It hadn't taken her long after finding out about the Kyuubi to realize what the laughter and smiles of the boy were. Misdirection, the whole thing.

"Hey. Cheer up. I'll be out of here soon. That seed worked, apparently."

Naruto smiled, mask back in place. "That's great! We'll be able to get Sasuke for sure next time." He didn't let the pain touch his eyes. Couldn't afford that. It'd crack the mask.

"Yeah." She looked out the window, towards where they had last met Sasuke. Where she had last felt his touch, in the form of an elbow slamming into her gut.

"Naruto!" Tsunade's voice came from the couch. He looked up, and saw that the blond Hokage's face was carefully schooled into an unreadable expression. He sighed, and stood. Time to begin explanations. The Hokage stood as well, and stepped through the opening left by the still embedded door. No one had had the courage to fix it while the Hokage was still in the room.

He followed her into the hallway. "Yes?"

* * *

"He's certainly not what rumor makes him out to be." Gosei Haruno said, as he leaned forward. His daughter, propped up by pillows, turned him an odd glance.

He laughed. He had been a 'sailor of minimal morality' for many years before meeting his wife, who had actually been on a mission to assassinate his captain. It had resulted in an interesting first date, to say the least. Rumors were the bread and butter of how they found targets.

"Somehow, I expected him to be this savage, undisciplined, murderous thing."

"Don't tell me you actually believed the rumors."

Gosei laughed. "Not completely. But when you've never met someone, it's easy to. Old habits from pirating, ya know."

"Dad!"

"What? That was twenty years ago, girl. I doubt that there's still much on my head."

"Well, still. You should be more careful. This is a village of ninja, dad."

He laughed. "Believe me, I know."

She gave him another odd look. He settled quickly. "You okay, squirt?"

She knew that he didn't mean physically. "I… don't know. I'll be okay, but I don't know if I am okay. I… still love him. Even after everything he's put me and Naruto through."

Gosei sighed, and hugged his daughter. She tensed slightly as he embraced her. Gosei frowned in hurt. Whether it was training or…

He felt the drop of a tear on his shoulder, followed by the first shuddering sob. And sighed. It was going to be a long cry, he could feel it.

* * *

"Well, that's some story." Tsunade said, as she leaned back in a booth in the cafeteria. Jiraiya had been called the join them relatively early, and he simply scratched his head.

"You still have the scrolls on you?"

"Huh? Why do you care ero-sennin?"

Jiraiya growled. "Shut up and let me see them."

"Okay, okay." Naruto said, as he reached into his weapon's pouch. He had been intending to ask Jiraiya for a bit of help anyways, but still.

The Toad Sannin examined them quickly. As he had said, fire and lightning jutsus for the most part. Although he noticed that one scroll had some that looked suspiciously like earth jutsu, and he knew within moments of opening it that one was a scroll on taijutsu. He handed Naruto back the more basic fire and lightning scrolls, holding onto the rest.

"Start with those."

Tsunade looked at Jiraiya, but said nothing. Naruto, however, had plenty to say about the issue.

"Look, you can't build a building without a base. These." Jiraiya held up several of the scrolls. "Are all advanced techniques, combining skills that those" he pointed at the scrolls in Naruto's hand "help teach. Luckily these guys don't seem to believe in long seal combinations, and thought enough to put drawings of the hand positions for the seals."

Naruto snorted, but hid a small grin. Jiraiya shook his head at his apprentice. The blond ninja slipped out of the booth, and was gone before he could say anything more.

"Those foxes are crafty." Jiraiya said, after he left.

"How so?"

"They slipped him a scroll on taijutsu. They must have figured he'd go to someone for help with training."

"How would they have known to give him one?" Tsunade asked, as she stood. Her old teammate did the same, and they began to make their way to her apprentice's room.

"He told them about his fights with Sasuke and Orochimaru before they gave him these, right?"

Tsunade sighed. And that was why Jiraiya was the information gatherer for the Sannin, not her.


	9. Specialist Exam

AN: Okay, I'm gonna admit it. The last 8 chapters were laying of ground work. I'll overview right here and now, in fact, what groundwork I wanted to impart on you.

1: The kitsune, and what they gave Naruto: A selection of jutsus, the written instructions of a taijutsu style up to about red belt, a sword (no style), and a scroll of techniques for dealing with Kyuubi. Also Kyuubi's backstory in this version.

2: Sasuke found out why Orochimaru wants him. As he has the cursed seal level 2, however, he can't directly oppose Orochimaru's will anymore.

3: Orochimaru has to wait _another_ three years for Sasuke.

Also, keep in mind that this story is a branch-off of Naruto part 2. Thus Naruto's major flaws of arrogance and insurmountable stupidity have been fixed. His brashness and stubborn refusal to give up, however, remain burning strong. If Naruto seems out of character to you (as he will start to more and more from here on out.) then it is partly because of how I read his character having developed in the three year interlude, and partly because it is the logical extension of having hung out with a ninja who is in so many ways a fully grown version of himself, who had a strong interest in making him a very effective ninja.

Chapter 9: Specialist Exam

Two months came, and went, with Naruto becoming wearily familiar, again, with D and C-ranked missions. It was about this time that he really, really wished he wasn't still technically a Genin. With Sai having been reassigned after the incident at Teichi bridge, and Kakashi still hospitalized, it was him, Yamato, and Sakura. He knew that none of them found much interest in the missions, yet until he passed the Chuunin exam, it was all they could do.

At the end of those two months, the Chuunin exam was announced. Naruto was summoned by the Hokage that very morning, sat down across from her, and had it explained to him by two of the elders he would not be taking the Chuunin exam. They explained that it was being held in another village, and that he was too much of a risk of being Akatsuki's target. Naruto noticed that, throughout this explination, the Hokage's expression was blank.

Granny Tsunade, he decided, was pissed.

Naruto explained to them, in extremely vivid terms, exactly how little cared what they thought. He explained to them, in very concise terms, how touching he found it that they were so concerned for his well-being, considering how hard his youth had been. And he then explained to them exactly where they could shove the poisoned kunai they were trying to sell him with this scheme.

The two elders, were not happy. And made it clear, in no uncertain terms. They made it an order.

"You wish." Naruto cut them off, as they got half-way through their commands. "Only the Hokage can give that kind of order. Even I know that." By now, he amended silently.

"Unfortunately, Naruto. I agree. You can't take the Chuunin exam."

That got him. He turned to look at the woman, his eyes unreadable, except for the betrayal, and the hurt.

"You're too powerful. It'd be too much of an advantage to whoever we pair you with. I'm going to have to deny you the right to take the Chuunin exam in Sunahagaru."

Naruto's face twisted into disgust for a moment, before bending back to impassivity. She had to have something up her sleeve. Otherwise, she wouldn't have said he was too powerful.

"Therefore, you are being administered a specialist exam. You are to report to my office in half an hour, where you will receive the details of this exam." Tsunade's tone brooked no argument, and for once, Naruto decided not to call her Granny as he left.

"I told you he wouldn't take no for an answer." Tsunade said, as she stood.

"You know, the Sandaime was no where near as difficult as you are proving to be."

"Sarutobi-sensei, no matter what else he might have been, was more of a pacifist than I am. Deal with it." Tsuande said, as headed for the door. "By the way. He was right, only the Hokage can give that kind of order. Try and usurp my authority again, and I don't care if you were Sarutobi-sensei's teammates or not, I will have you charged with treason."

Leaving the pair of elders to chew on that, Tsunade left.

* * *

"What the hell is a specialist exam, granny?" Naruto asked, as the door closed behind him.

Tsunade frowned as she looked up at the clock. That time already? Blast, she hadn't figured out one yet. Best to keep looking while talking to him.

"It's a special form of exam."

"Well no duh. Even I can figure that out!" Naruto threw himself into a chair that wasn't creaking under paperwork. Tsunade sighed.

"They're only applicable to ninja who have fulfilled certain requirements previously. In most cases, it requires an apprenticeship."

"But I've been apprenticed to Ero-sennin. Unless you can specialize in pervert, I don't think that I qualify."

"Naruto, if you ever tell Jiraiya that I said what I'm about to, I'll kill you. But Jiraiya is one hell of a ninja when he puts his mind to it. He's also a specialist in about five different fields, and one of them is information gathering. That is a field which you qualify for specializing in."

Naruto paused at that. Jiraiya, information? You mean that all those trips into whore houses actually did good for missions?

Nah.

"How do I qualify for that, besides training with Ero-sennin."

"You've proven that you can be sneakier than hell. You did, after all, paint the Hokage monument in front of the entire village."

Naruto at least had the decency to blush, a little. But it was immediately countered by a laugh. That had been his crowing achievement.

"So therefore, you will be taking a specialist exam in information gathering. The exam is really simple. You will be going on a mission where your specialization will be necessary, and you will then ply your talents. The ninja you are with will, upon your return, give an evaluation to me, and myself and a panel of other ninja will make a decision."

'Sound's easy enough. What's the mission?"

Damn. Tsunade said, as she browsed the stack of mission applications. She hadn't found one…

Or maybe she had. That ring was still running? Perfect mission for Naruto.

"This one." Tsunade said, as she pulled out the scroll. "There is a slave ring operating out of villages in the northeast portion of Fire Country."

"So the mission's to sniff them out?"

"Yes. Find out which village they're operating from right now, and contact the Daimyo. He will then supply samurai to assist with taking them out."

"Sounds simple enough. Especially if we're getting help to take them out.

"Not quite. This ring has been running for almost 18 years now. They've never been caught." Naruto snapped forward in his chair.

"18 years? How?"

"Damned good question. If you can manage to figure that out, I'll be even happier. This mission is personal to the village, Naruto."

"What for?"

Tsunade sighed, as she rubbed her forehead. "Over the last 18 years, we've been issued 6 mission requests to help bust this ring open. Every time, the request was for a kunoichi for a deep cover operation. Every time, said kunoichi went missing. This time, I'm the one deciding who we send."

"So who else is going?"

"You will be accompanied by Yamato and Genma. Yamato will be assisting you, as there is no way in hell I'm sending a single ninja on a mission like this again. Genma, however, will be strictly observing unless and until you contact the Daimyo to break open the slave ring. Then, his job is to assist in the operation."

Naruto nodded.

"You will be leaving in two hours, and the duration of the mission is expected to be two weeks. If you cannot find a lead in that time, then the exam is failed. Understood?"

Again, a nod. And a silent promise to find a lead in two weeks.

"Get out of here, you brat." Tsunade smiled slightly. Naruto laughed, stood, and left.

Several hours later, she saw the note that a Naruto Kage Bunshin had left on her desk's front, in black paint. She managed to get to the part about old hag's sitting there, before deciding the desk needed to go.

Through the window, of course.


	10. Surgical Entry

Chapter 10: Surgical Entry

Yamato watched the blond with unreadable eyes. His expression was a mask of focused frustration, as he tried to will the sun to set a little faster. The boy had already explained to him that yakuza preferred to operate after dark. Still, that didn't explain how he knew. And, curious, and wishing to pass the time, he asked.

He was quiet for a moment, before answering. "Ero-sennin used to take me on some weird 'missions' every now and then. Especially in Water and Grass countries. He said that the brothels were too expensive in one, and you couldn't trust the girls in the other. We'd go to a local yakuza, and gather information. At the time, I thought he was just being a pervert. He'd always be asking geishas, and where you could find the best girls the cheapest. Now that I think about it, he was being a pervert. But he was also teaching."

"So what are we doing?"

"This part is mine. I need you to go find a wireless transmitter with a distance of at least five hundred feet. I need to figure out a story that'll hold water."

"Won't they frisk you?"

Naruto snorted. "Of course, but they won't check my sword. It's presumed that you have a sword when you meet a yakuza. No one'll bother looking at it."

"And if you have to use it? I know for a fact yakuza are pretty good."

"Let's hope I don't have to use it."

The man approached calmly. No trace of fear at the sight of two large men, armed with short-swords in wooden sheaths. His gi top and pants were colored a light gray, and his light skin and dark brown eyes, combined with black hair, fit the standard appearance for the Cloud country.

"Whaddya want?" One of the men demanded, hand drifting to the sword.

"I am here to speak with your boss." The voice was a study in indifference. The two men in front of him were below his notice.

"Why should we let ya do that? I feel like cutting stuff up."

"I doubt he would like that very much. After all, that would be bad for business."

The only one who had spoken thus far thought about that for a moment, before he looked at his companion. The other man nodded, and slipped inside.

The man picked a bit of imaginary lint off of his sleeve, before he clasped his hands behind his back. The handle of his short-sword stuck out from behind his back. Or was it the hilt. The man wasn't entirely certain, and he didn't want to try and find out. This guy stood far too easily to not be at least somewhat proficient.

The man in gray looked up at the windows of the darkened warehouse, not really expecting to be able to see anything from outside. A yakuza that was that careless died quickly, and thus wouldn't have the information that Naruto needed.

The door opened, and Naruto's eyes came back down to it. Out stepped the large man, who held the door open for skinnier, almost feminine man. "The boss will see you."

"Thank you."

* * *

"So, what do you need?" Boss Iyaten asked, as he sat across from the man in gray.

"I have a proposition for you. My boss, Gamata, has found that his slave supplier has recently been, discovered. He needs a new contact, one outside of Cloud Country."

"I may be able to help you. Ask your boss to come meet with me."

"Actually, he has granted me the authority to make deals for our business. I have been trained to be the mouth that makes his deals, and hand that shakes on them, since I was very small."

Iyaten raised an eyebrow. "Unusual."

"But it works. He has been the Boss for almost 20 years."

Iyaten's other eyebrow joined its companion. That was a long tenure. "I see. Well, you are in luck. Our supplier's wagon train is preparing to stop for another auction."

"Really? Where and when?"

Iyaten's eyes narrowed slightly. The man in gray continued, as if he hadn't just slipped up. "Several of our clients are on business trips to cities in country at the moment. If the timing is right, I might be able to have them look at the goods."

"Why don't they just buy them themselves?"

"They are 'legitimate' businessmen. They don't believe they could 'have their hands soiled' by such dealings."

Iyaten snorted, as he took a drink of sake. "Ah, but they are willing to ogle the concubines that they will be buying."

"Of course. Such are the ways of a businessman, check the goods before purchase."

Iyaten laughed, and motioned to a man on the wall. His guest was shocked as the man stepped out from behind a section of wall, removed enough as to let a man stand behind it.

"Show him the site, and explain to him the rules."

The man bowed as the man in gray stood, and fell in behind him. He turned at the door.

"It will be a pleasure doing business with you."

"The same for yourself, I'm certain."

* * *

On the roof of a neighboring building, Genma and Yamato listened, and tried not to be too impressed. They watched as Naruto and the man walked out, and, ensuring their distance, followed them.

They found their way to a pier near the edge of the dock district. A boat sat in dry-dock, where it had apparently stood for many years. The man led Naruto into the building, explaining that the auction would happen in the ship's cargo hold.

It took two more hours for the man to finish explaining the situation to Naruto, and make sure he knew the procedures. He gave Naruto the password, asking if he thought he could remember it. He assured him he could.

He'd be hard-pressed to forget a password of 'sakura blossom'


	11. The Exact Temperature

Chapter 11: The Exact Temperature

Half a day later, Yamato and Genma stood, Naruto slightly behind, at the gates of the Daimyo's Palace in Tokaihi. The samurai at the gates checked the scroll that Genma handed to them, and immediately ushered them through the gate. Naruto noted the slight twitch of the right hand, and saw another man, just inside the gate run towards the palace. He spoke quickly to the men at the door, who immediately swung it open. He turned, and waited for the three ninja.

The grounds were expansive, as to be expected of the daimyo. Naruto's horticultural kick gave him some appreciation of the gardens, where hundreds of flowers bloomed in the mid-summer heat. He didn't pause to stare too long, although enough that he had to sprint a bit to catch up to the senior ninjas. Genma shook his head slightly. Naruto would always be Naruto, no matter how much he had been impressed by his display.

The man threw Naruto a bit of a glare, but he shrugged it off. So he liked plants, so sue him. He's the one with the information anyways.

They were escorted down a long sequence of corridors, until they found themselves in a room of paper walls. Sitting in the middle of the room was a man in an elegant silk kimono. Naruto couldn't see any weapons on the man's person, which was a surprise, although the way he sat said perfectly well that he knew how to use them. He guessed that was the daimyo.

Of course, if the daimyo's lack of weapons was a surprise, the number on the man slightly behind him more than made up for it. The man's hair was slightly graying in the long ponytail that it was pulled back in. His samurai's armor was well fashioned and polished. Considering how useless polished armor was for being unseen, Naruto guessed it was for use in the palace.

Their escort announced the three ninja of Konoha, here on a mission. Naruto saw the two men beside them immediately tense, as their hands migrated to their weapons. Loyalty was obviously high in the daimyo's palace.

"Let them in. I was expecting a Konoha ninja, although I must admit, I had thought that the request my Samurai commander sent was for another kunoichi."

The three ninja stepped in, Naruto sitting in the middle. Genma had already explained to him that, from this point out, it was his show.

"Gran… I mean, the Hokage decided that after the last six attempts with a kunoichi for deep cover, a different approach might be needed."

The daimyo nodded thoughtfully, as the samurai behind him stiffened. The daimyo's head tilted to the side, and he turned his head slightly to the man behind him. "Speak your mind, Meiyaku."

"I find it odd that this boy is the one speaking for Konoha on this mission. I would have thought a more senior ninja would have been sent on a mission from the Daimyo."

Jiraiya's training flowed back to Naruto, and he clamped down on the irritation. Yamato put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, but the boy shook his head. He had it.

"Meiyaku, was it? The Godaime is quite confident in my skills."

"Because she is your grandmother, or because you deserve the confidence."

Naruto almost literally bit his tongue at that one. This time, it was Genma who silently asked permission to speak. This time, Naruto gave it.

"The Hokage has no relation to Naruto genetically. However, he has proven again and again that he is quite capable."

The daimyo's eyes suddenly locked on those of Naruto, as he connected the face in front of him to a name he remembered. "Naruto? You are the boy who beat Hyuuga Neji in your first Chuunin exam."

Naruto had forgotten that the daimyo was at that event. "Yes. I am."

"Well then. Meiyaku, I believe we should hear this boy out."

"Is he your samurai commander? Because if he is, I can understand the whole idea of doing the same exact thing six times."

Meiyaku's eyes flared, as Yamato and Genma both turned to Naruto. Both of them saw the anger in his eyes. "As it is, we have the temperature it takes for a ring to break in the fire."

The daimyo's expression was unreadable, as he watched the boy in front of him. "He has spine, doesn't he Meiyaku?" The samurai nodded stiffly, as the daimyo continued, "no, Meiyaku is not my commander. He is my shadow. He has been my guard since I was a mere child. Where are they operating from."

"A wagon train."

The daimyo let out a rueful laugh. "Thus how they move so quickly. They never stop moving except for an auction."

Naruto nodded. "Fortunately, we know when and where the next auction is. In fact, its in a little less than six days."

That got the daimyo's attention. "How did you figure this out?"

"My sensei always said that if you want to find something illegal, talk to a yakuza boss. So I did."

Meiyaku's eyes narrowed. "They will be suspicious now. Ninja do not go asking about slave rings without a reason in this country. Earth country, maybe, but not here."

Naruto nodded. "If I had gone as a ninja. But as far as he's concerned, he is helping to establish a business relationship between a foreign yakuza who is paranoid over security to the point where he has trained someone else to deal with other yakuza, and his supplier."

The daimyo laughed. "I see that the Hokage's confidence isn't misplaced in you. Where is this auction?"

Naruto reached behind his back. Meiyaku's hand immediately went to his katana. The flesh around Naruto's eyes hardened slightly.

Pulling out a scroll, he handed it to the samurai. "Since you seem to be so security conscious, you might wish to open this for your daimyo."

Genma spoke up again. "The site is a dry-docked trading ship. It looks like Water Country traders I've seen, although the markings on the mast are Fire Country." The daimyo nodded, as the samurai unrolled the map, and nodded, putting it on the table in front of the daimyo.

Several minutes later, he nodded. "Meiyaku, give the order for two squads of samurai to mobilize."

Naruto's eyes squinted a little. Yamato knew that look. Genma had heard about that look.

Naruto was about to say something stupid.

"Don't do that."

Yep. Something stupid.

Meiyaku lowered a glare on the ninja. "You presume to tell a samurai of 30 years how to perform a samurai's job?"

Naruto shook his head, hands emulating the action for emphasis. "No. But I do know how to do a stealth mission. If these guys have caught 6 ninja who had infiltrated their operation, do you think they'll miss two squads of samurai on the move towards their auction?"

Yamato and Genma's eyes met over his head. He actually had a good point. Both of them began to subtly check for other signs of the apocalypse. Such as Jiraiya and Orochimaru making passionate love on the other side of one of these paper walls.

Meiyaku frowned. A valid point. "What do you suggest, then?"

"What else? A disguise. Its high summer, it hasn't rained in a month. The roads are good and hard."

The daimyo laughed. Meiyaku's eyes widened as he realized the implications. The brat actually knew what he was talking about, one, and two, he had a damned good idea.

"Meiyaku, see to it. And arrange for someone to perform your duties for a week. You will be leading this operation."

"My lord?"

"I want to make sure that they go down for good this time. You have your pick of men for the operation." He nodded to the three ninja in front of him. "You're mission is now complete, I take it."

Naruto shook his head, as Yamato spoke up. "Actually, the second stage of our mission begins now. We've lost six kunoichi to this ring. Considering that it appears to deal in concubines, the implications of their disappearance are disturbing."

The daimyo nodded, motioning for the ninja to continue.

"The second stage of our mission is to assist in the breaking of this ring. The Hokage is less than pleased over the disappearance of so many of our ninja."

Naruto snorted. "She's pissed, Yamato." He stood up, the other two ninja looking up at him. He looked down at them, "And, honestly, so am I."

And for just a second, his eyes flashed blood red. "Sir Meiyaku, where and when will we meet with your men?"

The samurai looked at the boy in front of him. "A day from now, at the city gates. A messenger will arrange for rooms for you in the city."

"Naruto, go with the messenger, you know the range we have for this mission." Genma said. The boy nodded, and managing a fairly passable bow, he left.

Genma watched as he left, and sighed. "I apologize, my lord Daimyo. He's not experienced in dealing with nobility."

The daimyo laughed. "Eh, there is no problem. The cheek was refreshing. He is an interesting lad."

Yamato shook his head slowly. "More than you know, my lord Daimyo. It is, in fact, our duty to inform you that this mission was specialist exam for the boy to allow promotion to Chuunin."

The daimyo surprise was evident. "He performed well at the chuunin exam he participated in. I know he didn't participate in any of the following exams, but still."

"He has spent the last three years on an extended training journey, and has thus been unable to participate in any of the exams."

"Training for this kind of thing."

Yamato shook his head. "No, I believe this is incidental. A particularly noted shinobi saw great potential in him, and decided that it needed very specialized handling to bring it out. He decided to undertake that handling."

"Who was this shinobi?"

Yamato allowed a smile as he and Genma stood. "The Toad Hermit, Jiraiya."

Meiyaku decided that it might be worthwhile to reevaluate his opinion of the boy.


	12. Warrior's Ways

AN: If you don't recognize a Jutsu, and it isn't in the list at the end of the chapter, its from some of the filler episodes in anime. Wikipedia has a lovely list of all the jutsus that have shown up thus far, in the manga, anime, and movies, and I am using them. Even if they aren't canon. I don't think that I used any in this chapter, though so they're all mine.

* * *

Chapter 12: Warrior's Ways

Well shit.

Those were Naruto's first thoughts as the browsing part of the auction began. The Meiyaku's hand-picked squadrons of samurai were interspersed through the crowd. Nothing unexpected about that. And the fact that there were some nukenin's was not unexpected. Any slave trader that had gone 18 years without being caught had to have a few of the ninja village's rebels among their number.

But eight was a bit more than they had been counting on. "Excuse me, Boss Iyaten, but I see several of our clients are here, and I need to go gather their opinions on the merchandise. It would not do for them to feel slighted, would it?"

"Of course not." The yakuza boss nodded, as Naruto slipped away. Making his way to Yamato, he bowed to the man, and motioned for him to join him off to one side, as if to get his opinion without background noise.

"Yamato, there's eight nukenins out there!" He said, as the two stepped into an alcove. Yamato frowned.

"I know. I believe that at least one of them is a jounin as well."

"The guy with the buckler on his arm?"

Yamato shook his head. "The man with the long sword. I believe him one of the Mist's Seven Swordsmen."

Naruto frowned. "Great. Just great. I'll tell Meiyaku to move to plan 2. Contact Genma and his squad, let them know."

Yamato nodded, as Naruto slipped out of the alcove. Even in the second stage of the operation, he was still technically its commander. After all, it was his test.

Meiyaku was managing to pull a passable job at looking like a browsing merchant. He was even uncomfortable enough to look like he was felt too 'legitimate' to be there. Of course, it could have been because he did feel that way.

Or he could have been uncomfortable about all the illegal activity around him. Either way, Naruto motioned him into an alcove, and, checking quickly, told him to send out the signal to move to plan two, telling him about the eight nukenins, including a possible jounin-level ninja.

Meiyaku frowned. "This could be bad, then."

Naruto shook his head. "Don't worry. We've got more tricks yet." He slipped out of the alcove, and began to slowly move into position.

Naruto didn't like the second plan. In Naruto's opinion, it had too much possibility for innocent bystanders to be injured. Meaning soon-to-be slaves.

Still, they didn't have much choice at this point. Ninja were difficult opponents for samurai, and usually it took two or three samurai to defeat a ninja of similar rank. If the sword-wielding ninja was, in fact, one of the Mist's Seven Swordsmen, then they might be in trouble.

Naruto reached an elevated portion of the cargo hold's side, and watched for the signal.

* * *

"Let the bidding on this fine little thing begin at 2000 ryo." The auctioneer began the bidding on the third slave, with the possible Mist Swordman just behind and next to him. Naruto's jaw tightened. It seemed that this was more of a test of his patience than he had expected it to be.

The first girl had born an uncanny resemblance to Gaara's sister, Temari, although her blond hair was a little longer, and the skin a little more pale, less worn by battle and sand.

After she had been sold, came a girl who, if she had white pupils, he would have sworn to be Hinata. That one had been hard. But that didn't compare to the black-haired Sakura who he saw up for sale right in front of him.

Where the hell was Genma with the signal?

A flicker of light, once, twice, three-four times from a hole in the top of the ship. Good, time to go. Naruto drew a pair of handless kunai, meant for throwing, and formed the seal for his signature technique.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." He called out, as the entire ship's hold turned. In front of them, stood almost three hundred different Naruto's.

"NOW!" One of them called out, as the entire mass heaved itself up into the air, and let fly with a veritable storm of handless, 'flying' kunai.

That initial storm served is purpose to the mission, wiping out the vast majority of guards, and evening the field. Still, Naruto didn't much like the odds. Drawing a double-ended kunai, he charged into the chaos, a wave of blond, orange and black sweeping forward with him. Plan two had entered its second phase.

In theory, at this point Naruto would allow his Kage Bunshins, Genma and the daimyo's samurai squads to deal with the remaining guards and lower-level ninja, while he and Yamato focused on the ranking ninja. Meiyaku, however, had apparently abandoned the plan, as he and Yamato combined their efforts on the swordsman on the platform.

Seeing Meiyaku block the sword, he decided the two of them could handle themselves for the moment, and turned his attention to the eight ninja who were still standing.

Counting to himself again, Naruto was surprised to see that at least eight of the yakuza guards had survived the rain of kunai. Without his Kage Bunshins, they were outnumbered by almost two to one.

Fortunately, Naruto didn't have to count the Kage Bunshin's out of the equation. "Leave us the ninjas. Take out those yakuza guards." He commanded. Two hundred and ninety-nine cries of 'hai!' greeted the command, as the Kage Bunshin wave crested, and slammed into the yakuza goons.

"Now. Let's go!" Naruto smiled, as he charged the nearest ninja. A pair of scars met just below and to the right of his mouth. His hands flashed through a series of seals, as he jumped back.

"Fuuton: Gufuu Ryuusui no Jutsu."

Drawing in a breath, the ninja formed his lips to whistle, and blew. From his mouth flew a tornado.

A quick Kawarimi replaced Naruto with the body of one of the fallen yakuza. Stabbing the kunai into the wood to free his hands, Naruto moved through the seals to the one technique he had managed to perfect from the kitsune scrolls. Although they didn't add element releases to the beginning, or "no jutsu" to the end of their techniques, Naruto couldn't get them to work without it.

"Katon: Myaku Kaen no Jutsu!"

Pulling his hands out of the seal, Naruto slid them against one another, letting out a weak clapping noise as they passed. The friction of their meeting triggered the chakra, which resulted in a bullet of flame with every passing.

The ninja managed to deflect two of the fireballs before his Gufuu Ryuusui ran out, leaving him no time to form a Kawarimi to escape their eight companions. He fell to the ground, and didn't get up.

Naruto wasn't sure if he had killed the man, and he didn't much care at the moment. He would worry about it later. He was a ninja. Death was part of the job description, and his teammates needed him fully functioning now.

Even if it was the first time he had killed a man.

Two more ninja had been felled in the short battle between Naruto and his opponent. Ripping the kunai out of the woodwork, he rushed another ninja, whose chain and sickle was proving difficult.

The chain sickle whipped out at a samurai. Looking at Naruto, he nodded. And allowed the sickle to bury itself deep into the muscles next to his neck.

Naruto's eyes widened. Why? He could have easily dodged the sickle, he'd obviously done so several times already. It didn't make sense!

"You're going down!" Naruto shouted, as he lunged at the sickle-wielding ninja. He spun, moving to Kawarimi away. He was gathering the chakra. Reaching for the wounded samurai.

And finding one end of Naruto's double-ended kunai buried up to the hilt in his chest before he could complete the switch. Naruto kicked the ninja over, and turned to the samurai.

"Why?" he demanded, as the man slowly wrenched the sickle out of his side.

"It is the warrior's way. The samurai's way. Do what must be done to win the battle. Even if it means you must sacrifice yourself." He grunted, as he held the gushing wound. Naruto found himself wishing that Sakura was there to heal the injury, but she wasn't.

"You didn't need to do that. I could have taken him anyways."

He coughed, a bit of blood coming out. Great, Naruto thought. That bastard got something important.

"Yes, probably. But your skills are needed elsewhere. The ninja with shield is proving difficult."

Naruto looked over, and saw that he was. It looked like a blade had been hidden in the shield, and was being used to great effect on the samurai. Shit. Leaving the wounded samurai to his companion, he rushed at the shield-wielding ninja.

Naruto took a quick peak at the battle against the remaining yakuza as he charged past to face the shield-ninja, and smirked. Two yakuza versus 196 Naruto Bunshins. No contest

There were _two_ jounin. That was the only explanation that he could think of. Apparently, Genma had come to the same conclusion, as he charged the ninja, spitting his senbon at him. He spun, using his shield to block the flying needle

Naruto summoned a dozen Kage Bunshin, a trio of shuriken in his hand. As the clones appeared, he unleashed his shuriken, his clones following the example.

The jounin jumped out of the way of the attacks. Genma, seeing the proverbial storm of metal, had never used a Kawarimi as fast in his life. Naruto cursed under his breath. Should have expected that.

* * *

Across the hold, Yamato and Meiyaku were being forced to keep back by the almost six foot reach of his sword. Meiyaku, patience at its limit, charged the swordsman.

The results were instantaneous. The six-foot sword cut across his chest, scoring the armor underneath his disguise for the mission. Coming back around, the sword cut into his shoulder, driving Meiyaku to one knee.

Yamato took advantage of the opening, and flipped through a quick sequence of seals. A series of wooden branches grew out of the ground, wrapping themselves around the ninja's arms legs, quickly moving up his torso. He began to struggle as they latched onto his arms, and reached his neck.

Meiyaku watched as Yamato drew a kunai, and quickly dispatched the ninja. He closed his eyes in respect for the fallen warrior, before, with an effort, he managed to get himself off of the sword buried in his shoulder.

"This man was no Mist Swordsman. He went down far too easily." Yamato muttered. "A pretender, I'd guess."

* * *

Naruto and Genma were _not_ well coordinated, having had no opportunity to establish any sort of rhythm as a team. Both of them knew it, and their opponent was obviously taking advantage of that flaw, timing his evasions so that their attacks would be headed on collision courses with each other.

He lunged up as Genma threw a fist-full of shuriken, forcing Naruto to drop to the ground.

As the shield-wielding ninja reached the apex of his jump, he realized that something was wrong. Looking up, he realized what it was.

The roof of the cargo hold had spawned almost 150 mops of blond hair. All of which lunged at him, fox-grins in place.

His descent, swift as it was, was assisted by several kunai in his chest.

* * *

Fuuton: Gufuu Ryuusui no Jutsu: Wind Release: Tornado Stream Technique

Katon: Myaku Kaen no Jutsu: Fire Release: Flame Pulse Technique


	13. Meetings

AN: I have finally ironed out the final details of my long-term plotline. You have already seen the precursory setup in some parts, and more will be laid out in the following 15 chapters.

Chapter 13: Meetings

Konoha was not home to many supporters for Naruto. Most of his allies and supporters lived outside of the village. Iruka knew that.

He also knew that the boy hadn't been an exemplary academy student. Better than anyone, he knew that to be true. His attention span was short, bordering on nonexistent, and his knowledge of the basics had been just enough to ensure he would die on his first serious mission. Iruka had been made aware of the not-quite conspiracy when Naruto was dropped into his class the year of his graduation. He had not quite been willing to condemn the boy to his death, and although the improvements hadn't been as great as Iruka had hoped for, they had kept the boy alive long enough for Master Jiraiya to find him.

The other chuunin in the room knew this as well. Their goal was supposedly to evaluate Naruto's performance according to Genma's report, and evaluate his fitness to serve as a chuunin.

The meeting had turned into a farce within two minutes. Iruka knew it, but there was no out. He had decided to stay silent as much as possible, to avoid appearing biased. None of their points were inaccurate, even if they were referring to his horrible academy performance.

Although it wasn't entirely true that Naruto hadn't paid attention to any of the actual classroom sections of academy training. Iruka knew very well that he had paid thorough attention, and had even tied Sasuke and Sakura's scores during the sections on dealing with emotional overload.

Jiraiya was merely an observer in this meeting, as he was the boy's sensei, and thus had no vote. Still, Iruka could see his growing anger at the gathered chuunins.

Iruka couldn't manage to meet his eyes directly. There was something there that was too much like Naruto. The fire that Iruka had once attributed to Kyuubi, he finally concluded. He could imagine what would happen to that fire once he received word about the result of this deliberation. Not a single person in this room was unbiased, and Naruto had far too few allies for the vote to go well.

Iruka sighed, as the weight of his head became too great for his neck. Maybe his hands could help. Hiding from Jiraiya's eyes would help, too.

And maybe rub some of the tension out of the muscles while they were at it. Maybe if they rubbed enough of it out, he'd be able to figure out how to get the gathered ninja to do their jobs for once.

* * *

Tsunade saw Iruka bury his face in his palms, and her frown deepened behind her hands. He'd reached his limit for this farce.

Tsunade couldn't agree more. She had known that Naruto faced animosity among the villagers. She knew of lingering resentment from ninja of the village. But this was absurd.

"Enough." Her voice was flat, and cold as a corpse. "The subject under discussion is Naruto's performance during this examination. Not the academy."

Jiraiya's half-smirk was almost audible in the ensuring silence.

"Iruka." She continued. "You've been quite thus far. What's your opinion?"

* * *

Crap, the chuunin thought. Now he'd have to come up with something very quick indeed.

* * *

Cra-crack. Cra-crack. Cra-Crack.

The training logs were not frequented by ninja. They were usually used by ninja who heavily emphasized solely in hand-to-hand combat, and very few of those existed anymore in Konoha. Maito Gai was fairly certain that he knew all of them, as he had trained the only other one himself.

Thus he was surprised to hear the fierce pounding that one of the logs was receiving. The rhythm was too fast, the strikes too hard to be mere training. Had Lee lost to Neji again? No, even that wouldn't explain this.

"In theory, every mission holds potentially deadly situations. Although less true since the induction of the ranking system, every mission a ninja faces has the potential, however minimal, for death, either for yourself, your teammates, or occasionally, your targets."

Gai was surprised to hear the old academy lines used as a mantra. The sounds of wood being struck hard seemed to only emphasize the monotonous quality of the recitation. Slipping to a place where he could observe the clearing, he saw Naruto, fists pounding the log. Gai could see the splinters sticking out of the wood, and was fairly certain that more than a few had buried themselves into the boy's fists.

Cra-crack-crack-crack-cra-crack-crackcrackcra-crack. **CRACK.**

He couldn't stand to see the fire of the boy's youth be quashed by this troubled state of mind. He had to find a way to help. Thus, he took the direct approach.

"It is for this reason that ninja are taught how to effectively deal with emotional overload." He recited, stepping out into the field.

Naruto spun, a pair of kunai leaving his hand on reflex.

* * *

"I must admit that Naruto was not an outstanding student. His scores were the worst, actually." Iruka's face was still buried in his hands. He heard a slight cough, cover for a snicker. His eyes came up sharply, boring into the snickerer. The Hokage had a pen in hand, making quick notes. A gulp came from the guilty. Something about Tsunade's absolutely calm expression made him very afraid of those notes "But that doesn't mean anything here. We're discussing his performance in this exam, and from Genma's report, his performance was excellent."

The silence that followed was absolute enough that not even Jiraiya could leave unheard. He tried anyways though.

"While it is true that Genma's evaluation is impressive, the section on his combat performance is questionable." One of the chuunin said. Iruka felt his jaw drop. A sharp crack came from the vicinity of the Hokage, as the pen snapped.

"That's right. This was an information gathering mission, in fact. That there was combat at all is grounds for failure." Iruka groaned, and let his head fall back.

At that, the chuunins began to dig through their reports. Iruka already could guess the goal. Find every technicality they could, and pull them out for consideration.

Tsunade was whispering something to Shizune, who looked at her for a moment, before nodding, and slipping out of the room. Tsunade returned to her hands joined in front of her face.

Technicalities. Oh boy.

* * *

The kunai met with a tree, as Gai finished his casual yawn. Pinning them to the tree were a pair of shuriken through the rings at their base.

"Why are you destroying the flower of your youth before it has even truly bloomed, Naruto? I'm certain my eternal rival would not appreciate one of his students doing this to himself."

Naruto's eyes were empty as they turned away from Gai. "It doesn't matter." The punches and kicks, solidly delivered, began to fly again. Splinters from the cracked log began to bury themselves even more numerously into Naruto. He didn't flinch.

Gai's well-trained eye could see the potential in Naruto. His style was that of a street fighter. No nonsense, rough and tumble. Every move was meant to take an opponent out of the battle. Of course, that meant that every attack committed Naruto completely. A missed attack left him wide open.

Yet there was a certain grace to the youth. The round-house he slammed into the side of the log, even though it made Gai wince at the ferocity of its impact, was as graceful as a crane. A crane swinging a mace, but a crane none the less.

Kakashi had once mentioned Naruto's tendency for aerial acrobatics during combat. The boy was tall and thin, unlikely to every gain the muscular builds of Chouji or Kiba. But the slim, almost lanky build was perfect for other kinds of combat.

Such as the one in that scroll MasterJiraiya showed him.

* * *

"And what about his method of finding the location? It was a great risk to go to a yakuza to gather information." The chuunin assault was still running strong.

"Indeed. Any yakuza who is around for more than a few months knows to watch for ninja, and how to do so. He was lucky that they didn't find him out." And they had started tag-teaming, as well.

"A ninja cannot rely on luck to complete a mission." The first spoke up. It was a culmination, and an obvious declaration of their opinions on the issue.

Tsunade sighed. "And if you read the report, he didn't. Naruto's visit to the yakuza was carried out perfectly. His cover was quite legitimate from the view of a yakuza boss, and he knew enough of yakuza security to circumvent their checks for ninja, a task that I know some of you couldn't achieve."

She threw a pointed look at the ninja who had pointed out the yakuza's knowledge of ninja stealth techniques. He had been caught several months before by a yakuza. It was only through the yakuza's good will that he had been let to walk free. He had the good grace to look embarrassed, and the lack of ninja skills to not be able to hide it.

Shizune interrupted the Hokage's building rant, and whispered something in her ear.

* * *

"You want me to learn taijutsu from you?" Naruto was skeptical to say the least. Gai nodded, however.

"My eternal rival is not up to the task at the moment, but he noted that on the mission to rescue Gaara that your taijutsu skills needed work. Particularly if you continue to let the fire of your youth burn as strong as it does!"

Plus Master Jiraiya asked me to. But Gai didn't bother to mention that little fact. The Sennin was a master of close combat, but even he had admitted that Gai had an innate talent for taijutsu.Gai didn'teven consider mentioningthat the Toad Hermit had admitted that.After all, he was a sennin, andthe sennin, well, two of them,were worthy of the greatest respect.

Weren't they?

* * *

"And as of right now." Tsunade said, as Shizune began to go around the table, setting a slim file in front of the chuunin present. "This entire argument has become academic."

"I thought we weren't discussing his academy record." A chuunin muttered bitterly. That had been such a good point of attack too!

"Idiot. It's pointless to discuss anymore. Because all of you presently have proof of previous bias in front of you."

Iruka noticed that a file was not put in front of himself, even though the entire room knew his bias. The ninja opened the files, and saw ANBU reports.

"Naruto Uzumaki, from the second day of his birth, up until his graduation from the academy at twelve, had a constant ANBU surveillance team. Although no direct interference was made in events, records were compiled for all ninja guilty of physical offenses to the child. In spite of the fact that, as a civilian, these cases were all at least second-degree felonies, the council has chosen not to pursue civilian criminal charges."

A collective sigh.

"However. As the Godaime Hokage, I am presently offering you all a choice. Either you admit previous bias, and swear to give this case the fair hearing it is due from you as professional ninja, or I will pursue a court martial for each one of you, and have a second hearing of this particular exam held."

The room's silence had Tsunade surreptitiously checking for genjutsus. It wasn't possible for a room to be so quiet as to absorb sounds, was it?

"I'll take the silence as your acquiescence. Now, Shizune, call Genma in, again, so he can give us his testimony. Again."

Shizune nodded, as she slipped out the door. Her back to the wooden slab, she took a deep breath. Genma was watching her, impassive. She smiled at him, and told him to head on in. She watched him move for the room, and made her way off, as if on another errand for the Hokage.

The Elders would want to know about that stunt back there, she was sure.

What she wasn't sure of, indeed, didn't know at all, was that Genma watched her walking off in the direction of the offices of the Elders. And internally sighed.

The Hokage would want to know about the betrayal that was happening.

* * *

"I guess." Naruto said, as he watched Gai. "Although I don't know if I can do that Gate stuff you and Lee do. That's yours, ya know?"

Gai laughed. "Of course! You're fire of youth burns great, but it is a different fire from mine and Lee's. You, will learn a different style."

Gai's posture, his entire manner changed to brutally serious in an instant. "And it starts now."


	14. Birth of the Foxfire

AN: Flaky as this will sound, your author has decided to switch the major pairings of this fic. If it pisses you off, tough. If you want to flame, go ahead. I feel, however, that this particular pairing fits the story's flow far better than the original. I'm actually more partial to the original, but the new pairing is far more in character.

Chapter 14: Birth of the Foxfire

Roll to the right. Ignore the stones digging into your skin as you do so. Use right hand to pop self up into a one armed handstand. Bring second hand down, fingertips facing opposite direction. Shift weight, and twist body, avoiding dislocation of the shoulder. Use turn to build momentum. Bring legs down, one behind the other, in a one-two hit combination.

Maito Gai hit the ground, letting his body slacken to reduce the injury. Rolling forward, he braced himself with one hand at the end of the roll, using it to turn the momentum of the roll into a turn that brought him to face the newly promoted Chuunin whom he had been training in a form of Taijutsu that he had never seen before.

Gai had to admit, the style was well suited for Naruto, who lacked the natural breadth of the shoulders, height or enhanced muscle power that were common to taijutsu specialists. Lanky, fast and surprisingly agile, Naruto had very rapidly progressed through most of the lessons that the scroll contained.

The exception had been, as always, the most basic part. The first lessons had centered around teaching the basic movements of taijutsu.. Eager to rush past "The stuff he already _knew_", it had been a challenge for Gai to get the jinchuuriki to pay attention.

That is, until Jiraiya suggested the 'School of Life Experience to make your exploding youth ever stronger!'

It hadn't taken more than a couple hours of sparring, interspersed with Gai's lecturing, for Naruto to learn those basics. The rest of the scroll had been finished off in a little less than two months.

The final piece of information the scroll contained was a simple statement that at this point, all a student could do was experiment, and attempt to develop techniques that were all their own.

1

"Master Tsunade?" Shizune's voice carried through the door. Tsunade made sure that her slight frown was smoothed from her face before she called Shizune in. In her hands was a tightly bound scroll. As she drew closer, Tsunade could see the seal of the Stone ninja village emblazed in wax.

"This has just arrived by courier bird."

1

Naruto smirked as he slipped into the neutral position, legs at shoulder width, his right side back slightly, knees bent. His hands were open, palms down, resting just about even with the bottom of his ribs, and his back foot and knee were slightly angled inward, allowing for improved speed and agility. Although he didn't get as much power as Gai did, with his wider leg spread and hands up even with his nipple line, he was far more agile. Besides, there was no way he could match Gai in strength without using Kyuubi.

He had to admit, Bushy- brows the Elder kind of knew his stuff. Even if all that junk he spouted off was boring as hell, it helped his taijutsu.

He had said that there were dozens of different ways that people move in battle. But they all are one of three things. Attacks, blocks, or evasions. And, by switching dozens of different things, from height to how the body's weight is carried, they can be made into more different individual attacks than he could make Kage Bunshins.

Gai interrupted his musings with sweep kick. Naruto hit the ground, and was prevented from escape by an axe-kick that was far to hard to have not been assisted by the momentum from the sweep.

Naruto had become intimately familiar with several concepts during his sparring with Gai. One of them was how many ways the ground could immortalize your appearance when you meet with it. This time it decided for a lovely little cast of his face and torso, as he saw when he pushed out into a stance that was described as 'pouncing.' His legs were back, spread wide. His balance was held by the combination of the balls of his feet, and his left palm splayed on the ground. The stance wasn't really meant for prolonged attacking so much as it was meant for rapid movement over a short distance. Such as the powerful lunge he launched at Gai.

The jounin rolled back, planting both feet into Naruto's chest, and sending him flying through the air. Naruto looked down at him, and saw the jounin smirk.

He had learned that charging an opponent who so obviously outclassed him was stupid. He couldn't afford to be stupid if he wanted to save Sasuke. He hit the ground, and waited for Gai to follow up, as he knew the jounin would. Maito didn't disappoint, as he charged at the chuunin.

Brace hands on ground. Use muscles of upper body, and a kick off from the legs to reach handstand position. Begin focusing chakra into the air around the legs, as well as the legs themselves. Envision the air as merely an extension of the body, and convince your chakra that it should quite naturally be there.

Gai didn't miss the faint glow of energy beginning to surround Naruto's legs. He did, however, write it off as one too many hits to the head during the match. In spite of his massive reserves of chakra, Naruto had no techniques that would cause a chakra aura.

Drop legs into a split. Ignore the slight pain of the muscles and tendons in the legs. You've been practicing splits for two months, this is nothing compared to the beginning. The pain should be gone completely with a couple more weeks training. Continue pushing chakra.

Gai had reached attack range when he realized that something was drastically wrong. He also knew what it was. His assessment of the situation.

1

Tsunade popped the wax seal off the scroll, noting as she did so that the wax was still slightly warm. Her glance noted where the original seal had been popped off, leaving traces.

Unrolling the scroll, Tsunade's eyes flitted across the contents quickly, absorbing what it said.

Shizune, after a few tense moments, brought forth that legendary question, "What does it say?"

You already know that, was the response Tsunade was tempted to give.

1

Naruto had developed a new technique. Nothing surprising there, as he knew the boy had a penchant for making alterations to techniques he already knew. But he hadn't expected him to somehow develop a method to project a chakra aura.

And he damned well hadn't expected what came next.

Turn hands to face opposite directions on the ground. Begin rotation.

Gai saw the helicopter kick coming the second Naruto pulled the split. It was a mid-level kippup, but very effective when surrounded. He was a little disappointed initially with the slow speed of the move, but apparently that had been purposeful.

Time slowed for Gai as Naruto began to spin. Chakra, once it has been placed into an aura, is as susceptible to the laws of physics as anything else. This includes centrifugal force. And since chakra has very little actual weight, the chakra around Naruto's legs began to fly off in ribbons, starting at the hips, and moving somewhat rapidly down towards his feet.

None of that mattered to Gai at the moment, as the ribbons of chakra hit him. As a senior ninja, he was familiar with chakra burns, which felt like the skin was being peeled off by a cheese grater. And he was also familiar with the feeling of a fire burn, where the skin was simply scorched off.

He was unfamiliar until that time with the feeling of a superheated cheese grater taking his skin off.

As he began to back up, the chakra on his feet flew free. Naruto hit the ground, as the unexpected wave of force knocked him onto his back.

The wave of energy hit Gai full on in the chest, sending him flying back into a tree.

Then through it.

1

"Its time to renegotiate the ceasefire with the Stone. They're proposing little bit of a test, so that both Kages can see the abilities of our up and coming generations."

"Whatever do they mean by that?"

"They want us to bring along four teams of ninja who have been so for no more than five years. Presumably, they want to see the abilities of their enemy."

1

"Alright you damned fox, what was that?" Naruto demanded as he rushed after Gai. He could see a trail of blood on the grass and trees lining the path Gai had created as he flew.

"**Whatever do you mean, kit?"** Kyuubi's innocent voice rang through his mind. Both of them knew it was bullshit.

"That technique never did that during my practice. What did you do?"

"I simply upped the density of chakra in your feet. When you add the force of the spin to the denser chakra, it creates an effect rather like a sharp blade"

"So why'd he go flying so far?"

"I added a healthy portion of my own chakra to the mix, to give that pathetic little kick of yours more, well, kick."

"Damn you, fox."

"I'm already there, kit. Your brain is as close to hell as I'm likely to get."

1

Maito Gai hit the ground with a grunt. Naruto was next to him almost immediately. "Are you okay? Kyuubi…"

Gai put his hand over Naruto's mouth. "I'm fine! The force of your exploding youth caught me off guard. I hadn't expected a chakra aura technique. They're ANBU techniques, usually." Gai clambored to his feet, then collapsed to one knee.

Naruto smiled. "Yeah, I know. We should get Sakura to look at that."

Gai frowned, but nodded. He rarely needed the attentions of medical ninja. Injuries were something he hadn't acquired many of in the past several years. But he could visit his eternal rival while he was there, and this wound hurt more than he would like to admit. He stood, and felt a sticky warmth on his chest. He looked down, and sighed.

Oh yeah, and it bled to. Putting an arm across Naruto's shoulder, the two began the treck to the hospital.

1

"I thought the war was over."

Tsunade couldn't suppress the look of surprise. "Bullshit. You and I both know that it was only a ceasefire that was signed. And as such, if its not resigned, the war will start again."

Shizune shuddered slightly. Either she was a good actress, Tsunade decided, or she really was that terrified by the concept. Admittedly, it could be either. The concept scared Tsunade too.

"Who are you going to take?"

"Who do you think?'


	15. Dropping Breadcrumbs

AN: Forgive the late posting, had computer problems for the summer. Posting speeds may be down now, as I have begun school again. I will be borrowing things out of recent manga chapters as they come up, and fit into my general storyline.

Chapter 15: Dropping Breadcrumbs.

Konoha's hospital staff were used to unusual patients, and even stranger wounds. They were also used to not being able to be told the entire story behind a given wound or scar. Many of the best doctors in the world would not dream of working in a hospital such as Konoha's, simply because of the kinds of injuries they may have to deal with, along with the lack of information that they would be expected to work with.

Sakura, as the personal apprentice to the present Hokage, and one of the greatest medical ninjas in the world, had no problem with such restrictions, having dealt with them all during her training in the field.

She was, however, unused to seeing Naruto in the hospital's patient waiting room. Usually he would either be in visitor waiting, or coming in on a stretcher. There just weren't any other conditions he came in under. He healed too fast.

It wasn't until she saw him bracing Gai that she realized who the patient was. Sighing, she grabbed an nurse, and directed her towards Naruto and Gai.

1

Tsunade watched the courier falcon depart, headed for Tsuchihagure. Its message was a deceptively simple thing. The location for holding the treaty meeting.

She wished that it were possible to have held the meeting in one of the other Kage countries, but Sand and Cloud were known to be partial to one side or the other. And as for Mist, well, they hated everyone who harbored ninja with a bloodline limit. Meaning everyone but themselves.

Left with precious few options, she had opted for Rain country. Their ninja had no known partialities in the conflict, and they were far enough from any of Orochimaru's known bases to put her at least a little at ease.

Now to gather the ninja that would be joining her on this trip.

Joy.

1

The nurse had shooed Naruto away rather quickly once she learned that he was uninjured. He didn't mind that much. He hated hospitals anyways.

Did like the roof, however. One of the better views of Konoha from up there, he decided, as he stood looking through the chainlink fencing. It was only made better by the strategically placed Kage Bunshins.

The door to the roof opened without sound. Naruto didn't visibly react, although the Kage Bunshin watching the door moved to get a better look at the intruder.

1

"I don't see how you can stand to work with that… thing." The nurse said, as she finished wrapping the bandages around Gai's chest. The wound had been far cleaner than most, fortunately. An herbal infusion or two and he would be fully healed and mission ready.

Gai didn't react. He pulled on the top to his spandex suit, along with the remnants of his jounin vest. It wouldn't be too difficult for him to get a replacement.

He stood, moving past the nurse with the practiced ease of a veteran killer who was very good at his job. It wasn't that hard an act to pull.

After all, it was true.

As the nurse watched his retreating back, she shuddered. She wasn't so sure anymore that that boy, Naruto, was the scariest thing in Konoha.

1

Tsunade was out for the afternoon. She had taken with her the set of scrolls that she had drawn up after receiving the missive from Tsuchihagure.

Shizune wasn't overly surprised. Tsunade would probably prefer to deliver these messages by hand. Too important to trust to couriers, and she'd want to get a feel for their reactions. Shizune wasn't about to complain. It gave her a chance to check the office.

It seemed implausible that the elders had the papers that they claimed. She had hidden them herself, after all. It wasn't like they were sitting on top of a stack of papers on a chair, like the primary fake patrol schedule was.

Unloading books from inside the bookshelf, she pulled out the shelf itself, and, taping at the back, found the compartment. Drawing a quick sigil in blood, she opened the back wall of the hidden compartment, where she had hidden the IOU's of Tsunade's gambling debts.

They were gone. All of them.

1

"Kakashi Hatake?"

The Copycat turned to face the door. His strength had been returning in bursts. He had to admit, he wasn't up to his normal par, but he was good enough to be out of the hospital

Which was why the nurses had pulled out the ninja-grade restraints. He had always laughed at the sight of the ninja unfortunate enough to be bound in the complex metal wires.

Not so much so now. He was actually a little surprised at their effectiveness.

"Yes?"

"We've just received orders to discharge you from the hospital. You'll have to come down now."

"Awww, five more minutes?"

"You'll have to learn how to pick the locks some other time."

"Blast."

1

"You hit Gai pretty hard." Sakura said, as she stepped up to the fenceline next to Naruto.

"That all?"

"Do I need a reason to check on my only remaining teammate?"

The blond reflected on that for a moment, before pushing away from the fence. His pink haired ally watched with a detached interest, noting the dozens of minor changes in his movement, balance and stance that screamed at her training.

She could also see the tension in his shoulders, the pensive look that should never be on Naruto's face. Something was wrong.

"It wasn't supposed to work like that."

"What?"

"The technique I used on Gai. Foxfire. Kyuubi pulled one of his usual stunts with it."

Sakura frowned. The fact that he was Kyuubi's living prison was still a little unusual to her. As was hearing him talk about it. But still, the fact that he could play with Naruto's techniques in the middle of battle was, in its own way, far more disturbing.

"Why would he do that?"

Naruto's laugh was cold, biting. Almost barking. Sakura couldn't help the sharp breath.

Whether he heard the breath, or the barking quality in his laugh, Sakura didn't' know. All she did know was that he stopped as suddenly as he had begun, and pinned her with a very flat look. "For the malice of it. He wouldn't do something like that during battle, it might get him killed along with me, which does him no good. But if he can screw with my head without getting himself killed, he'll do so."

"So he's getting bolder, or more desperate, if I remember Arashi's seal properly."

Sakura spun, looking up at the top of the water tower. Leaning against it, Jiraiya looked down at his apprentice, who didn't bother to face him. "Are you getting sloppy again?"


	16. Conflicting Interests

AN: Sorry about the scene breaks. fault.

Chapter 16: Conflicting Interests

Rain Country's name did not, in fact, come from its dominant weather pattern. Although no one could deny that Rain Country did get an exorbitant amount of the stuff, Lightning Country received more. No, the country's name, in fact, came from the way that rain had a tendency to stick around. Everywhere.

A combination of the natural terrain, and the foliage kept it so that rain could stay on the ground for upwards of a week before finally evaporating. Just in time, usually, for another storm to sweep in.

While this did not often offer an impediment to ninja, it did slow down the caravans traveling with the delegations. In an effort to help extend the cease fire into a permanent peace treaty between the Fire and Earth countries, both daimyo's were attending the meetings, although most of the actual decisions involving the treaty lay squarely on their two Kages.

None of that meant squat to Naruto. All he knew was that it took them longer to get to their destination on time. It was only with the less than subtle convincing of Jiraiya, Sakura, and the newly returned to duty Kakashi that the blond shinobi kept his tongue in check.

The Rain country was generous enough to provide a small castle for the meetings to take place in. Slightly dilapidated though it was, it was the kind of structure that drew no real notice from passers by.

A perfect place for a group of daimyos and kages to meet for important decisions. And the absolute last place that any of them intended to hold this meeting.

In fact, the actual meetings had been held in a small country inn, miles away. An extremely select group of ANBU watched over the proceedings, while the rest of the group stayed at the castle.

Again, not that any of that meant squat to Naruto. All he knew was that the dobe had just shoved a hand through his chest, AGAIN.

And he couldn't be happier about it.

1

The week had begun innocently enough. Well, as innocent as anything involving ninja goes. The groups had reached the castle as planned, and were billeting down for the week when their counterparts from Rock arrived.

Of course, everything promptly went to hell in a hand-basket.

1

The sun had just barely passed noon by the time the Konoha ninja had finished billeting down. The 11 junior shinobi had taken to the courtyard, and were milling about, or squeezing in some extra practice. Their former sensei, now taking up the mantles of mentors, had taken to similar pursuits. Except for Kakashi, who had several months of Icha Icha to catch up on.

In fact, it was while he was desperately trying to catch up that his senses detected the incoming Rock Ninja. The other senior jounins detected their arrival as well, although it took several more seconds for the younger ninja to detect them.

By the time the Rock ninja had arrived, Naruto had managed to not visibly give a damn, although several dozen of his Kage Bunshins had made their way around the castle courtyard, watching carefully. Jiraiya had mentioned that their first meeting would be all-important, and as an information specialist, he would do well to know as much as he could about how that meeting proceeded.

The gate had opened without any visible fanfare, and 7 ninja made their way into the courtyard, several wagons with the sigils of Earth country, and the village of Rock, emblazoned boldly on the sides.

Two things leapt out at the junior ninja of Konoha immediately, as their more senior counterparts dropped to the ground. One was that two of the wagons were filled to near overflowing with people.

Dirty, clothes torn to mere rags, they were uniform only in that each had a collar of seals blazoned around their necks. A ninja rode on the front of each cart, a glove covered in seals on their right hands.

Naruto's face hardened. He knew very well what they were. His travels with Jiraiya hadn't always been pleasant. But, even more than that, he had very recently seen such tattoos around the necks of people.

They were slaves. Sold out of slaving rings much like the one he had broken up a few months ago. Hell, some of them had probably come from it.

His contemporaries didn't take it half as well. Although no externally visible reactions were given, Naruto knew them well enough to see the dozens of minute changes. Set of the eyes, stance, weight bearing, tilt of the head, creasing of the face. They all shifted, as the social status of the human-sardines registered.

The second thing that leapt out was far more literal. Naruto Kawarimi'd one of his Kage Bunshins into place just in time to avoid being struck by the Rock ninja. As it was, the tactic bought him only a moments reprieve before the ninja found him again, and launched a second attack.

Naruto rolled forward, timing the move so that, by the time his back was on the ground, his opponent was just above him. Shifting the momentum, Naruto brought one leg around in a kick to the side. The ninja hit the ground, rolled, and stopped, dropping into a ready stance.

Taking the moment to recover himself, Naruto examined his opponent.

The girl was unusual for a Rock ninja in many respects. First, of course, being the fact that it _was_ a girl he was fighting. Legendary for their dislike of kunoichi, they were uncommon at best in anything other than the courtesan service of Rock's ninja village.

Secondly was the shock of red hair she sported. The color was not native to Rock, being far more likely to occur in the buffer countries that sat between the five Kage nations. They were less common, but at least native to, the country of Wind, but not in Rock. Most likely, that made her the daughter of at least one slave, possibly two. By all rights, a slave herself. Whether the chains that seemed to comprise her clothing were a reminder, or had some utility, was another issue entirely.

'She has to be good, to be able to move with all that metal on.' Naruto decided, as he continued his observations.

"**She has a familiar scent about her."**

Naruto was surprised to hear the fox speak up at all. Not usually interested in Naruto's battles unless they threatened his life, the Kyuubi's input was worth noticing.

'Like what?'

"We shall soon see if I am correct. She should begin to lose patience now. Call her as you would a cat, see her reaction."

'What the hell are you rambling about.'

"Do it, kit."

'Alright, alright.'

Naruto sighed, as he slipped into his stance, Flipping one hand over, he made the universal gesture of 'bring it, wuss.' To which, he added an unforgivable insult.

"Here, kitty, kitty."

The reaction was instantaneous. Naruto's teammates could only watch in amazement as black energy began to pour out of his opponent. The chains themselves seemed to absorb it, before they began to rustle, moving with a life all their own.

Then, without warning, the ends burst free, lunging at the Konoha ninja.

"Enough!" a voice cracked out. The chains twitched violently, before coiling themselves around the girl again. The black mist rose off of them for a moment, before flowing back into the girl through her mouth, nose and eyes. As the last of it disappeared, she sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly.

Bright gray eyes flashed open, and met Naruto's. He couldn't quite decide whether the gaze was cheerful, or just blood-lusted to the point of insanity.

"Good fight. Hope we get to finish it sometime." She smirked, before skipping past the blond chuunin, to blend back into the crowd of Rock ninja.

Naruto turned, his face still set into its battle-mask. The girl would be trouble, no doubt.

"**More than you know. You have just met Nebhi no Neko. The two-tailed Cat."**


	17. Engage

AN: I am aware of the recent developments in the manga regarding both Nibhi no Neko, and Akatsuki. However, as this story departs from the original at the end of chapter 305, it has no bearing on the present story.

Also, a quick question. If someone wouldn't mind dropping the link to a site that has the recent scanlations. My preferred site has disappeared recently.

AN2: apologies. has had some problems recently, and the most recent of which was that the last half page was cut off of this chapter.

Chapter 17: Engage

There is a tender time, resting in the precious less-than-an-hour between the setting of the moon, and the breaking of false dawn. It is during this time that most morning birds awake, and let the rest of the world know that they're up.

And it was during this time that the rookie ninjas of Konoha, and the Rock Village, made their way to the five miles of forest where their 'war game' was to take place.

The objective was simple. Each team had one scroll. They were to figure out which of their opponents had the scroll, and open it. Doing so would, obviously, require dealing with the ninja carrying it.

The details of the operation allowed them until sunrise before they could attack one another. If neither team's scroll were opened before noon, the games would come to a tie.

1

"Of course, we can't have that, can we?" Kiba asked from his perch on Akamaru's back. The dog yipped, presumably agreeing.

"Ideally, we should pick them off one by one. We have the advantage of numbers, and there is no evidence that anyone, besides the girl with chains, is exceedingly powerful." Shikamaru declared, falling out of his thinking pose.

"What about the time constraints." Neji asked, glancing at the black haired strategist.

"I said ideally."

"Yosh! We can easily overwhelm them, for we have the power of youth!"

"And so do they, Green Boy." Tenten muttered, as a kunai danced, point-down, across her fingertips. Lee considered for a moment, and flopped down, slightly dejected.

"Yosh… What would sensei do?"

Naruto smirked suddenly. He had been holding almost abnormally still for the past five minutes, sitting in a full lotus. His hands had been formed into an inverted triangle, resting even with his solar plexus. "I love Kage Bunshin."

The comment drew more than a few odd looks from Naruto's companions.

"Not like that. They've split up into four groups. Three teams of two, and that crazy girl with the chains. Don't know which one has the scroll, but they seem fairly confident that they can take us."

"Overconfident much?" Ino asked, as she smirked. This was in the bag.

"Probably not." Naruto said, as he stood up. Arching his back, he heard the pop, and relaxed visibly. "Ya see, the Rock village has a very different system than we do. We try and balance things out, give everyone a fair chance. Thus why the best and worst genins go on the same team, and why the strongest, most experienced jounins are usually the ones who teach genin teams."

Sakura blinked once, and then smiled. "Jiraiya's lessons?"

A wink. "Bet your life on it." His face dropped back into its serious mode again. "But the Rock hold a very different philosophy. I'm not certain about all of it, but they don't make any effort at all to balance things out. The strongest ninja, the ones with the most potential, are selected shortly before they become Chuunin, and are put into an accelerated training school. They call it gem-level training. And from what I saw, every one of these ninja is gem-level."

"A-and how strong d-d-does th-that make them, Naruto-kun?" Hinata managed to squeak out the question. Somehow.

"They're all potential ANBU, if they live long enough."

A pregnant pause followed. Shikamaru readopted his thinking pose. Tenten added a second kunai. Lee began stretching.

And through it all, one word slipped loose, from the mouth of Shino Aburame.

"Craptastic."

1

Shikamaru, now aware of his opponents, had conceived of very different plan. The strategy was simple. Split into two groups, and deal with the numerically larger groups first. Then they would be able to bring all of their abilities to bear on the final ninja.

His advice to avoid fighting her until all three other groups were defeated was sound, in Naruto's opinion. Although he, admittedly, had an unfair advantage in terms of knowledge. Which he was sure as hell not going to share.

Sunrise brought an end to their enforced ceasefire. And it took all of twenty-five seconds for the first engagement to begin.

1

A snapped branch caught the attention of the two ninja, who quickly faded away, into the shadows of the forest at dawn.

Someone had obviously forgotten to let them know about Shikamaru's Kagemane no Jutsu. Fortunately for them, only one of the two ninja was caught in it. And unfortunately for the Konoha ninjas, he proved very capable of breaking free of the basic Kagemane quickly.

As in, about 2 seconds.

Sakura, who was caught at close range when the ninja broke free, barely managed to avoid his vicious kick, before retaliating with one of her own. Her opponent blocked the kick, and then wished he hadn't, as he felt his forearms break.

"Heh. Can still fight. I prefer to get my kicks anyways."

Sakura shook her head, whether at the foolishness, or the bad pun, was up for discussion, as she settled into a combat stance. Shikamaru, who had been hanging back, stepped somewhat closer, waiting.

1

Across the clearing, Neji and Ino found themselves against a particularly vicious opponent. A dual-sword wielder, he formed the weapons out of pure chakra. And, due to their presence, Neji couldn't draw close enough to negate the chakra.

On the other hand, their opponent had no such problem drawing close to them, and seemed to be enjoying himself by harrying his opponents, forcing them to keep back from him.

Obviously, this did not sit well with the two ninja. Ino watched as her opponent focused in on Neji, apparently done playing. And she saw her opening.

Her hands began to flash through seals.

1

Shikamaru's hands finished in the final seal for his technique, as his target drew back.

1

The sword began to fall. Neji lunged back, but wouldn't be able to avoid a serious hit to the torso.

1

"Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu"

1

"Shinranshin no Jutsu."

1

The leg came back down just as suddenly as it had gone up, as a pair of hands began to creep up the body of Shikamaru's target. He saw them quickly come within range of his neck, and stop. He managed to look up, just in time to watch Sakura's hand come lightly to rest on his forehead. And put him to sleep for the next eight hours.

1

The sword drew back at the last moment, as Ino's target turned towards his now sleeping ally. Before he had been able to take three steps, Neji had his swords dispersed, and him unconscious.

1

Meanwhile, approximately a mile away, another ninja fell unconscious, as Kiba and Akamaru dropped out of their Gatsuuga. His companion was finding out just how many ways a taijutsuist and a weapon mistress could make him say ouch.

He was up to 793… 794, and counting.

1

"Where the hell is Naruto? He should have found the other group by now" Ino demanded, as she stood up from checking the sword-wielder's pockets.

"Who knows? Its too troublesome to try and keep track of him."

The orange clad shinobi dropped from the tree canopy about that moment. Sakura opened her mouth, and shut it again, as she saw the slightly panicked look his eyes.

Not much panicked Naruto.

"What's wrong?"

"They're here."

Sakura's brow furrowed. "Who the hell are you talking about? We know the Rock ninjas are here. They're unconscious."

Naruto shook his head furiously. "No. Not them. The cloaks."

Sakura stared at him for a moment, before her eyes widened. "Crap. Here? Why?"

Naruto shrugged. "Guess two of us were too much bait for even them to resist."

"Two?"

"Later. We've gotta go. Now. I've got a Kage Bunshin already on its way to Kiba and the others." Naruto said, before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sakura paled, as she realized the implications.

Naruto had sent Kage Bunshins to get the other ten rookie Konoha ninja. He had warned them about the presence of two very powerful ninja, and then disappeared.

Which meant that Naruto was probably staring down at least one member of Akatsuki right now.

"Neji, find him, now." She commanded. The Hyuuga nodded, before questing out with his Byakugan.

"What's going on, forehead?" Ino asked, as she stepped up next to her long-time friend.

Sakura shook her head. "It's classified."

"Then how does Ramen Boy know about it?"

Sakura scrambled for a lie. "Stumbled in when things got started. They couldn't exactly kill him, so he was sworn to secrecy."

Well, it was at least partly true. He had stumbled into it at about two days old. And he had never really had any desire to let people know about it.

Although it was looking less and less likely that was going to be something he could avoid for much longer. If he had to fight off two Akatsuki, even he would have to resort to Kyuubi's power.

She really hoped it didn't come to that.

"Found him. He is engaged in battle with a man in a black and red cloak, about two miles north-east of here. Another man is watching the battle, although his stance seems to indicate that he believes this to be a pointless fight. He seems unwilling to intervene. The girl from Rock is there as well, although she seems to be in no condition to fight. Naruto seems to be… protecting her?"

Sakura snorted. "Given the situation, I'm not surprised. But that's good, the other guy's staying out of it. Now its only moderately impossible, and we've all seen Naruto pull that off before." Sakura said, as she moved off towards the battlefield. "By the way, anything we see once we get there is, more likely than not, an S-class secret, just like the truth about those guys in the cloaks. I can't tell you, and it's unlikely that Tsunade will want to. That is, unless you see too much, then we won't have any choice but to tell you. Or kill you. Your choice at that point."

The rest of the group glanced at one another, not entirely sure she was joking.


	18. Beast

AN: I have gotten quite a few comments on this, so I will say it right here and now. My chapters average out to about 5 pages in length on Microsoft word. I have written longer chapters in the past, and found that they don't work as well for my particular style, at least this early in the fic.

That being said, this chapter should turn out longer than its predecessors. And as a final note, the Akatsuki characters I have in mind, and am using for the members who were not premiered before chapter 305, are _not_ the same ones that come up in the manga. I'm not Kishimoto, people, I can't guess what kinds of characters he has in mind for the Akatsuki's who remain to be introduced.

Chapter 18: Beast

Naruto's part of the plan was rather simple. Find, and keep track of the third pair of rock ninja, as well as the girl. If necessary, intervene to prevent them from aiding their allies. Simple, but the job with the highest potential of needing an absurd amount of power. Just up Naruto's ally.

He hadn't been expecting what happened shortly after sun-up, as his friends engaged with the first two groups.

1

"Where the hell is she?" Naruto muttered, as he and a dozen Kage Bunshins scoured the forest, searching out the location of the final missing rock ninja.

It hadn't been difficult to track down the third pair of ninja. In a way, they had made it easy to find them, simply by lighting a fire. Naruto was somewhat convinced they wanted to be found. Whether that was because they wanted a fight, or they wanted the attention off someone else, Naruto wasn't sure. But they would find out eventually.

Of course, just because they were easy to find, didn't mean that their remaining companion was. In fact, it was proving near impossible.

"**You're surprised? She's a cat, and we're in a forest. Good luck with that."**

Naruto's response was cut off by the sound of a minor explosion. Moving towards the site, he sent a Kage Bunshin ahead to investigate.

1

Sarasa was not a happy little jinchuuriki. First that bastard in charge of gem training had dragged her off to this stupid thing, where she hadn't even expected a decent fight. I mean, come on, everyone knows that Konoha ninja are weak. What else would you expect, with that 'equality' bullshit they're always spouting.

Of course, that was before I smelled the fox. It had been a long time since I'd gotten to play with Kyuubrat. It hadn't taken long for him to recognize me, either.

How DARE he call me kitty! Even my mate doesn't get to do that!

Then that bastard had dared to interrupt the fight! How dare he. Worst of all, her body listened. That girl was still around here somewhere, she has to be. Still in charge of the controls, when all was said and done. Whether or not she had a voice in matters.

And as if all that wasn't enough, then I have to get up and come out here before sun-up, interrupt my dawn nap, and play around with these stupid Konoha ninja until noon! I'd miss at least three naps for this!

And that bastard had never once, in any of the briefings, mentioned missing-nins.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good fight, and this guy looks like he'd give me one. But still, I like a warning before I fight missing-nin. His hitai-ate marks him as a Cloud ninja. The cloak, big and black and covered in red clouds, is a little flashy, but it works as a disguise. The one truly distinctive thing about the guy were the thin metal gloves he wore.

And his size. Definitely his size. Seven foot, easy.

1

Naruto felt his Kage Bunshin disperse, and tensened. Akatsuki! He redirected two of his Kage Bunshins to track down the other two teams, and sped up.

"Not another one. Not again."

1

Mugoite smirked, as he watched the cat-girl fall into a combat stance. The chains wrapped around he body didn't' seem to impede her at all, although he couldn't guess at their purpose. Maybe something to do with her biju's powers.

One way to find out.

1

Naruto frowned, as he drew closer to the battlefield. It didn't sound like they were fighting yet. One explosion of that size wouldn't have done more than make a demon carrier like him mad. Even if Kyuubi was the strongest, none of them were going down that easily.

No, he had time to make some preparations. Or rather, send a message. Stopping on a tree, he bit his thumb, and began to gather chakra. Judging it sufficient, he slammed his palm into the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Naruto muttered, as the seal spread on the tree limb in front of him. And revealed Gamakichi.

"Yo, bro! Got anything to eat?"

"Not this time. I need you to do something for me."

"You sure you don't want dad?"

Naruto shook his head. "I need you to go find Jiraiya, and tell him that Akatsuki is here."

Gamakichi's eyes widened a little. He had been with the two frog summoners often enough to know who they were. "Gotcha." He croaked, before bounding off in the direction of Jiraiya.

1

Sarasa lunged at the missing nin, fists cocked for the punch. Mugoite laughed, before he grabbed her arm. A quick twist sent her falling to her back, where he released her arm, only to bring an axe-kick down on her.

Seeing the incoming kick, Sarasa rolled to the side, before kicking at Mugoite's knee. A quick chakra-jump removed him from harm's way, as his hands began forming seals.

"Raiton: Denkou Hebiha no Jutsu" Mugoite intoned, before a blast of lightning struck from the sky. Splaying his fingers, he laughed, as ten bolts of energy flew at Sarasa.

The jinchuuriki hissed, as the blasts of lightning flew at her. A backflip brought her out of the way of two, forcing her to press to the ground, and roll right to avoid another three bolts.

Two more came within inches of her head, deafening her. She yowled, as a third grazed her arm. Lunging away from the ninth bolt, she yowled in pain as the tenth hit her leg. The chains that wrapped her body carried the electricity, but also prevented it from focusing in on any one place, keeping it from killing her.

But, it did make her plenty mad. She hissed, as black smoke flew out of her mouth, and entered into the chains.

Time to get serious.

1

Mugoite saw the chains absorb the black mist, and begin to writhe. A nasty grin split his face, as the chains jumped suddenly, two of them launching themselves at him. He grunted as one of them drove itself through his leg, as his hand wrapped itself around the second chain.

Sarasa watched him, as a look of near bliss settled over his face. He reached down, and slowly extracted the chain from his leg, sighing blissfully as it slid out of his leg. His grip tightened, causing her to twitch a little. And then he jerked the chains.

Sarasa growled as the two chains around her shoulders dug into the ground, preventing the ninja from pulling her to him. Reaching down the chains, she disconnected the two he was holding a couple links above his grip.

He watched, a little surprised, as the two chains severed easily, and wrapped themselves around his wrists. A quick jerk sent him into the air, where two more chains flew from the girls hips to grab his ankles. He watched, as two more chains launched from around her stomach, lunging up at him.

And grinned. Closing his eyes, he let chakra flow out into his arms, before altering its very nature. He could feel the slight burn as the elements of wind and lightning merged in his arms. Few other ninja could merge two elements in one limb, and no other ninja he knew of could create a stable, self-maintaining chakra aura using them. That was, in effect, his bloodline limit.

And he used it to great effect, as the chains that bound his wrists were torn asunder by the intense violet energy around his arms. A quick twist brought one arm across the chains around his ankles, and he flipped to the ground, slicing away at the two chains that had been aimed at his stomach as he descended.

Sarasa yowled, even as she flipped away from the ninja. The fragments of chain jumped off the ground and began to fly towards Sarasa, repairing themselves in mid-flight. The Akatsuki ninja smirked, as he let his cloak fall to the ground. "Always did hate that thing." He muttered, as he stretched.

The black muscle shirt and pants he wore were stretched to capacity over his powerfully built torso and legs. His face, as Sarasa managed to get a good look at it, was somewhat hawkish, although it carried a sort of rugged charm. That is, except for the sadistic grin. A pair of black boots completed the ensemble, although she thought that she could see a brief glint of metal beneath them.

She looked at the violet energy swirling around his arms, and nearly gagged. The energy was literally a maelstrom of energy, swirling and tearing around his arms. She could see thick scars around the base of his gloves, literally grown over the bottom of the metal implements. The purple energies didn't quite reach to them, but she was fairly certain that they were the cause of the scarring.

Yep. That did it. This guy was a pain freak, no doubt about it.

"You look scared, beastling. No need for that. I won't hurt you too much. Yet."

Sarasa snarled, as the last of her chains wrapped themselves back into position. She snarled slightly, letting yet more of the black mists pour out of her mouth. They began to swirl about her, causing the chains to multiply, and lift off of her body. The chains and mists began to swirl together, as a single tail sprouted behind her.

"Are you in need of assistance, Mugoite?" A voice asked from above. Sarasa's gaze snapped up, to where a second figure stood in another of the black with red cloaks.

"Don't bother, Nakoa. This won't take long." Mugoite smirked, as he settled into a boxers stance.

The figure shook its head. "Very well then, I will maintain a lookout position." Mugoite simply smirked, and charged Sarasa.

1

Miles away from the site of the war game, Gamakichi bounded into the castle, and settled in front of Jiraiya. The white-haired Sannin looked down at the frog in confusion. He didn't remember summoning the squirt.

"What do you want, kid?"

"Big bro… sent me… to tell you that… Akatsuki… Here." Gamakichi panted out.

Jiraiya's eyes widened, as he jumped to his feet. "Gotcha. You can go now."

"Will… big bro… be okay?"

Jiraiya's eyes hardened. "He'd better, or I'll have to kill him."

1

The jinchuuriki let a half-dozen chains fly, even as more of them began to slash violently at the air in front of Sarasa's face. Mugoite could see an energy sphere forming there. Nope, couldn't let that get loose. He dispatched with the chains as quickly as he had before, and reaching the jinchuuriki, backhanded her across the face.

Sarasa yowled, as the violent purple energies shredded through the chains that surrounded her, and cut open her face a dozen times over. She staggered back, the chains around her face struggling to repair themselves.

Mugoite, however, found himself in unexpected trouble. The chains he had shredded to close on Sarasa had managed to form themselves into new chains, and had wrapped themselves around his upper arms, holding his cutting energies next to him. This caused him to jerk for several moments, as several more chains wrapped themselves around his neck.

A quick jerk of his upper arms broke the chains holding them in place. He could do nothing about the ones around his neck, however, except end this fight quickly.

Sarasa had gotten her staggering under control, and watched with satisfaction as Mugoite struggled. Until he broke free. Suddenly, he lunged at her, and delivered a pair of sharp strikes to the stomach, followed with a second to the back of her chest. Sarasa yowled, as the mists surrounding her were sucked up into the open wounds on her body, and in through the nose, mouth, ears and eyes. She fell to the ground, unconscious.

1

Nakoa shook her head, as the girl fell to the ground. The chain around Mugoite's neck fell loose, as he let the chakra aura disperse. She looked up suddenly, as another chakra signature began to close in. The intensity of the Nibi's chakra had hidden it, although some of that had to be due to willful suppression.

It took a lot of chakra, after all, to hide the presence of Kyuubi himself.

She watched, as another ninja, dressed in orange and black, dropped from the forest canopy. How he managed to avoid being seen with an outfit that glaring was beyond Nakoa's understanding, but she remembered what Zetsu's intelligence had said about the boy.

1

Several miles away, Neji's Byakugan located the scene, and four of Konoha's representatives moved towards the location.

1

Mugoite watched the new arrival, as he stood, and slipped into a combat stance. He noted the Konoha hitai-ate with interest. Although he knew that Konoha ninja were present during this event, he hadn't expected one to intervene on the behalf of their opponents.

He heard Nakoa hit the ground behind him, and sighed. "What do you want?"

1

Somewhat closer than Shikamaru's detachment, Kiba and Akamaru picked up Naruto's scent on the wind, and, with a howl, they were off.

1

"We should withdraw for the moment. We will have other opportunities to seize the Nibi." Nakoa declared, gesturing towards the Nibi.

"Bah. I can take this brat."

"You are presently injured. Your use of that technique has greatly drained your energy reserves. This boy is also no normal ninja. He is the container for the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

"Great. We'll catch two at once."

1

At a small country inn, close to fifty miles from the castle, a dozen or more Rock ANBU found themselves desperately trying to catch up to Jiraiya of the Sannin, as he closed in on the inn.

If any of them who were chasing had seen his eyes, and noticed the hardness there, they would have probably backed off. Just like those who had seen it.

1

Nakoa's eyes narrowed. "You are being foolish. If you must continue with this, I will not aid you. I will, however, secure the Nibi no Neko." Nakoa moved towards the jinchuuriki from Rock, and managed to make it about two feet before stopping.

Naruto smiled, as the body behind him, with a poof of smoke, turned into another him. The both of them flashed a peace sign, and disappeared.

1

The two rock ninja lunged through the trees, following the orange clad Konoha ninja intently. He would pay for dropping water on them.

They drew up short when he appeared out of nowhere, Sarasa's battered form draped over his shoulder.

"Take her, and hide. At least one of those ninja will probably come after her. They're S-class missing-nins, so don't take them lightly." Having left his warning, Naruto's Kage Bunshin disappeared.

1

Jiraiya burst into the inn, where another eight ANBU popped to their feet, swords departing from their holsters even as they did so.

He paid them no heed, as his eyes found those of Tsunade. The Hokage saw the gaze that her long-time comrade turned on her, and felt her heart twist.

Last time he had had that look, Orochimaru had betrayed them all, and he had failed to return their teammate.

"Akatsuki is here. They're in the war game."

1

The two Akatsuki spun as Naruto dropped out of the tree canopy behind them. Nakoa frowned. "What have you done with the Nibi no Neko."

"None of you business." He snapped, before settling into a combat stance. Nakoa sighed, and shook her head.

1

Tsunade, to her credit, did not ask how the hell that happened, or how he knew. She trusted him too much. She turned to the ANBU under her command.

"Initiate Operation Sunset Oblivion." The ANBU nodded, and, as one of them formed five Kage Bunshins to notify his comrades, the rest were off and running, headed towards the site of the wargame.

"What the hell is going on?" The Tsuchikage demanded, as he stood.

Tsunade shook her head. "I presume you heard of the incident in Sunagakure about a month ago?"

"Of course."

1

"If you wish to fight, I am certain that my companion, Mugoite, will be happy to satisfy you."

Mugoite smirked. "Oh yes. My pleasure."

Nakoa nodded. "I will return to my lookout position, and attempt to locate Nibi. If one of the Konoha ninja is here, the others may be on route. And if they are the ninja Zetsu reports to be this boy's peers, then even you and I would be given trouble by them all."

Mugoite stretched. "Guess I'll have to make this quick." He crashed the two gauntlets together, as violet energy engulfed them. And he charged Naruto.

1

"Those responsible for the attack, and subsequent abduction of the Kazekage, call themselves Akatsuki. Their objective is the collection of all the Biju tailed demons. Our information says that they possess at least three of them." Tsunade said, as she stood.

The Tsuchikage's facial expression went from questioning to alarmed. "And they are here?"

"Yes."

The Tsuchikage burst to his feet. He gestured to his ANBU. "Go! Deal with them! Do Not Let Them Have SARASA!"

The ANBU nodded, before they disappeared in the direction of the war game. He turned to face the Hokage and Jiraiya.

1

Naruto dodged backwards, letting Mugoite's punches cut through the air in front of him. He could feel the energy they unleashed. And suddenly, he could also feel the wood of a tree behind him. Gathering chakra, he jumped up, grasping the side of the tree with his feet.

He saw the purple energy hit the side of the tree, and rip a large hole in the side. Launching off of the tree, Naruto twisted, his hands forming into a quick string of seals.

"Katon: Myaku Kaen no Jutsu"

A trio of fire balls flew from his hands, directly at Mugoite. The first hit him in the shoulder, as he spun. The second was chopped through by a downward strike of his purple-engulfed arms, which dispersed the energy. The third, he punched straight through. Rather than dispersing, the energy of the fire was turned into a wave of energy that flew directly back at Naruto.

Still in midair, the orange clad shinobi could do nothing to avoid the pulse, which sent him flying end over end towards a tree. Watching the approaching plant, he timed his movement, and tucked in a shoulder. Rolling slightly, he was suddenly crouched on the side of the tree, facing Mugoite.

1

Nakoa looked up, as she detected a sudden, slight shift in the Kyuubi vessel's chakra, along with the appearance of multiple other sources.

Of which only a few were a match to the Kyuubi vessel. And most all of them were powerful.

1

Naruto's teammates found themselves suddenly within sight of the battle. Sakura motioned for them to stop, and then, with a couple quick hand gestures, formed a genjutsu. Immediately, a slightly darker bubble of air surrounded them.

"We should be okay, but when we get closer, don't make a sound, or the genjutsu will break." Various affirmatives reached her ears, before Akamaru yipped something to his rider.

"Akamaru smells dozens of ninja approaching, all of them powerful. He thinks he recognizes some of them as the ANBU from earlier, although he's not sure."

Sakura nodded. 'Good. Naruto should be okay now.' She thought, before motioning the group towards the site of battle.

They managed to close in, just in time to hear the missing nin begin to speak.

1

The cloud missing-nin smirked. "Come on, you beast. You can't beat me like this. You don't have the power. Why don't you just release these foolish bonds of flesh. Flesh is so full of weaknesses. Show me your real power."

Naruto flipped off of the tree, launching himself at Mugoite. The missing-nin swung at Naruto, who twisted slightly with a kick. The twist of the kick moved him just enough that the fist passed just under him. And allowed him to land a vicious kick across Mugoite's face.

The ninja staggered slightly, as two more Naruto's dropped from the canopy above him, forming a wide triangle around him with the original.

The three of them, as one body, flipped into a handstand, and executed a split.

Mugoite smirked, and raised one arm, ready to dispatch with the first of the Bunshins, when the three ninja in front of him began to generate a chakra aura. He laughed. "Now you're definitely going to run out of power soon." He declared, as he brought an arm down.

The three ninja began to spin, releasing the chakra aura in ribbons. Mugoite staggered, redirecting the arm that had been about to strike back in an attempt to defend himself, letting the chakra gathered around his arms disperse.

The trio of ninja continued to spin, allowing the chakra ribbons to tear away at Mugoite's body. The chakra at the feet, intentionally denser this time, hit him from three directions. Each of the three independent forces threw him away from it. And, as he could not move backwards in any of the three directions, he was forced to move up.

The Naruto who had kicked Mugoite in the face, and one of the ones that had dropped from the canopy disappeared, as the original dropped out of the maneuver into a standing position. Another quick Kage Bunshin created another five copies of himself.

Three of them utilized a chakra powered jump to lunge up at Mugoite, spinning slightly so that each of them planted a harsh kick across his back, projecting him still further up. These three clones soon found themselves being used, in succession, as springboards for the original Naruto, and the remaining two clones.

The original caught up to Mugoite first, and using him as a springboard, kicked him back down. The second clone, spinning into a kick identical to the one used earlier, sent Mugoite flying still further up into the air. The final clone used him as a springboard to catch up to Mugoite, and kick him still further.

Meanwhile, the original Naruto had generated a Rasengan. Bringing around his foot, he kicked out at Mugoite's stomach with a chakra-aura enveloped leg. The missing-nin grabbed the kick, and smirked. "Not good enough."

Naruto grinned.

"Bad guess." He said, before bringing the Rasengan around into Mugoite's chest. The massive ninja roared, as Naruto rode him to the ground, driving the Rasengan into him the entire way.

As the ground closed in, Naruto sent a pulse of energy into the Rasengan, causing it to detonate, and drive Mugoite back to earth with an impressive extra burst of energy, enough that he bounced back up at Naruto. The blond sent him back down once more with a kick to the chest, flipping back off of him, into a pouncing stance.

Sweat literally poured off of Naruto, as his clothing stuck to him, spots of it darkened by Mugoite's blood.

The cloud-nin coughed, before rolling over.

1

"No way he could stand back up after THAT." Ino said, her piercing voice carrying in the quiet forest. Sakura turned a fierce gaze on her, and she suddenly realized her mistake.

1

Mugoite stood, battered but capable. "That was delicious. It looks like you're out of options now. Just give up to that beast within you."

"… up after THAT." Mugoite turned slightly, his eyes falling on a cluster of Konoha ninja.

"Surprise, surprise." He declared. He flashed a kunai, and Naruto realized that his kunai holster had been opened, and he was one short.

The one that had an explosive tag attached. Naruto watched in horror as he tossed the kunai at his teammates.

1

Hinata saw the incoming piece of metal, and focusing chakra into her palm, prepared to take it out of the sky.

1

"Finally. And the flesh-sack thought that was delicious. We will show it the true definition of pain now, kit."

Naruto ignored the Kyuubi's declaration, as blood-red chakra poured out of his body, engulfing him in an aura of fox-shaped energy. Two tails sprouted from his back, as a paw of chakra extended, and batted the kunai to the ground. It ignited, and as Naruto's chakra 'paw' held it in place, it detonated.

1

Sakura turned back at the sound of the explosion, and saw Naruto's chakra shell. And sighed.

Ino looked at her friend. "Let me guess. This is the S-class secret?"

Sakura didn't respond, as she continued to watch.

1

"Ah! Finally, you show yourself." Mugoite declared, as he reached into a pocket on his pants. Withdrawing a pair of pills, he swallowed them, and quickly felt his chakra return, as the injuries he had sustained repaired, although far less than he had expected. Obviously he had taken more injury than he had thought.

1

Nakoa shook her head. They could wait no longer. It was time to leave. She dropped to the ground, as Mugoite stretched his back out again. "It is time for us to leave, Mugoite."

"No way. This is getting good!"

"There are at least two dozen ANBU on the way."

That gave Mugoite pause. In his present state, that would be more than enough to give him pause. "Alright. Lets go." He turned his gaze to Naruto, and smirked. "But first." He looked at the boy's allies, and gestured to him.

"Behold. The fox lord. Kyuubi no Kitsune."

Naruto snarled, the chakra engulfing him growing a third tail, as he swung a paw out at Mugoite. The ninja jumped backwards, as the swat took the metal plate off of his hitai-ate. He didn't seem to notice, as he lunged into the trees, and the two Akatsuki's disappeared into the forest.

He growled, and crouching low, prepared to lunge after them.

"Naruto, don't!" Sakura said, as she stepped forward. He turned to look at her, his gaze a mixture of Naruto's own questioning, and Kyuubi's deathly rage.

Lee suddenly was in front of the boy, as Neji and Tenten stepped forward slightly.

"Friend Naruto, do not give in to this. You are stronger, for you have the power of youth!" Naruto looked at Lee, and shook his head. The gesture seemed almost foxlike, with the aura around him.

"Sakura. Do you have Jiraiya's Seal?"

It took a moment for the kunoichi to realize who was speaking, and what he was talking about. Digging into her pouch, she pulled out a strip of paper with the seal drawn upon it.

"Give it to Lee. He can avoid Kyuubi's chakra better than you."

She was tempted to argue, but refrained from it. Instead, she handed the Junior Green Beast the seal, and instructed him to plant it on Naruto's forehead. Nodding, he dropped his weights, and, moving quickly, planted the seal between Naruto's eyes.

Close enough, it seemed, as Naruto quickly reabsorbed the red chakra. Sakura, knowing what was coming next, moved next to him, just in time to catch him as he slumped forward.

Dozens of ANBU hit the ground, as Sakura settled her wounded teammate to the ground. Most of the ANBU, noting the absence of the Akatsuki, departed. However, four, all bearing Konoha's symbol on their mask, remained.

Sakura barely spared them a glance. "Sunset Oblivion, right?"

Three of the ANBU exchanged glances, as a forth simply answered. "Yes. It that him?"

"Let me make sure he's okay, then we can go." Sakura said. A diagnostic jutsu flared up around her hands, and a moment later, she nodded. "Lee, if you wouldn't mind."

The Green Beast nodded, and squatted down to pick up Naruto. He was surprised, therefore, when the blond ninja was picked up by Chouji. The larger warrior nodded to Lee, as he made use of the Bubun Baika no Jutsu to grow his arm larger, enough to easily cradle the unconscious Naruto.

"Let's go." He declared. The ANBU exchanged nervous glances, before Sakura sighed, and shook her head.

"Just go, it's okay. Point her to me if she gets pissed." Sakura said. That seemed to satisfy the ANBU, who moved to surround the group of Konoha ninja. The leader lunged into the treetops, with the rest of the party following.

123

Raiton: Denkou Hebiha no Jutsu – Lightning Release: Lightning Serpent's Tooth Technique: The user (Usually Mugoite, as he is one of the few who has the necessary physical endurance to use it) is struck by a bolt of lightning, and unleashes it through their hands as a pair of smaller bolts. By splitting the fingers, the technique can release up to ten equally powerful blasts of energy at once.

Element Combination – Lighting and Wind: Storm – Although the name implies a rainstorm, or something similar, the element produced by a combination of wind and lighting is considerably more vicious, closer to a tornado in nature. Combining the cutting power of wind with the intense heat and impact force of lightning, Storm element is a volatile force that rends opponents, as well as severely burns. Easily capable of cutting through steel, this element is extremely hard to handle, and is usually used only in conjunction with weapon or object, such as Mugoite's gauntlets.

Katon: Myaku Kaen no Jutsu: Fire Release: Flame Pulse Technique

Chakra Aura: A very powerful generic technique, where the user molds their chakra's form to a field of energy surrounding a given limb. Usually performable only by highly advanced ninja in the jounin/ANBU rankings, simply because of the amount of chakra consumed. Maintaining a chakra aura requires a continuous flow, usually at such a rate that the aura is completely rebuilt every three to five seconds. Kyuubi's chakra shield, and Mugoite's chakra 'gauntlets' are exceptions to the rule, as they have managed to conceive of a chakra aura that, by also altering its nature (fire and storm, respectively) will somehow maintain itself indefinitely.

Bubun Baika no Jutsu: Partial Multi-size technique: controlled growth of one or more limbs.


	19. After Shock

Chapter 19: After Shock

Sakura settled into the rhythmic motion of lunging from branch to branch, following the lead of the ANBU who headed their little formation. She had surreptitiously slipped into a position behind and above Chouji, watching as the large ninja lunged through the trees, supporting Naruto's unconscious body with his oversized arm.

She glanced back slightly, her eyes falling on the other blond in their company, whose slip of the tongue had broken her genjutsu. She wasn't certain whether she wanted to kill her long time best friend, or merely settle for strangling her to death.

Ino had the grace to blush a bit as Sakura's heated gaze bore down on her. She knew that she had screwed up, and because of that, had nearly gotten them all blown up. She was going to catch high-holy hell for that one. From both Asuma, and the Hokage.

1

Shikamaru was surprised when their little formation closed in on the castle where they had originally departed from, that morning and a lifetime ago. It wasn't every day that you were notified that one of your longtime allies and friends was a demon vessel. Even if you had suspected that he had more power to him than was quite normal, it didn't happen too often.

And he certainly hadn't expected the power source to be something like the Kyuubi. Admittedly, it explained a lot about the way Naruto was treated around the village. It also explains his incredible need for acknowledgement, not as the Kyuubi's carrier, but as himself. His abilities at self-healing, and the incredible energy he used in his battle with Neji, years ago, also neatly fit into the equation.

The more he thought about it, the more it made puzzle pieces that hadn't quite fit properly fall into place. And as they settled into the courtyard, Shikamaru settled into his thinking position.

This would take analysis.

Lots of analysis.

1

Chouji settled to the ground, slowly letting Naruto down, before shrinking his arm back to its original size.

He could still clearly remember, years ago, in the early days of their academy careers, when Naruto was scorned by the villagers. It made sense in a way, now that he knew the truth.

But he could still remember days when he had been the outcast. When he had been the one who no one wanted to deal with. And although he had never been spat upon, the more subtle ostracizing he had received was bad, in its own way.

In truth, he had great respect for Naruto. Knowing what he carried, what he had to resist every day, what he struggled against. He was an Akimichi at heart.

A butterfly, merely waiting to break its carapace, and show them the truth underneath. And Chouji, intimately familiar with the pain a butterfly-in-waiting could be forced to endure, knew the simple truth.

It was up to them to support one another.

1

Kiba frowned slightly from his position on the back of Akamaru. For the first time in their long alliance, he and the massive half-wolf had a differing opinion on an issue. In this case, the issue of Naruto, and his recently revealed demon status.

Kiba clearly remembered the tales about Kyuubi, and the raw damage he had caused to the village of Konoha. Hell, his attack had left the Inuzuka clan devastated, whittling them down to only his direct family. His mother even willingly admitted that, without his attack, she would never have had a chance in hell of being the clan's head. A chief enforcer maybe, but never the leader.

Akamaru, however, seemed to believe Kyuubi firmly under Naruto's control. How he could say that, after the little display in the forest, Kiba had no clue. But, according to his nose, he could only barely smell Kyuubi, as if the fox demon's scent was a 'by the way, I'm here too', message.

Kiba sighed, and kept a careful eye on the demon-vessel. Akamaru growled something, and he sighed.

Here we go again.

1

Shino frowned as he sat down next to Naruto. His insect hive, sensing the chakra source near them, considered for a moment going out for a quick bite, before he reigned them in. He had no undue fear of the Kyuubi's chakra, although its power was impressive.

No, he just didn't feel like having to explain why his insects were draining chakra off of an already chakra-deprived ninja. It wasn't something that was often looked upon kindly, and he really didn't want to deal with it.

Naruto had surprised them all, again. Who would have figured that he had the strength of character to fight off another mind, another will. He knew from personal experience how hard it could be. He had to fight the hive-mind of the insects every now and then, when it rained, or when there was fire. When he had first been infused, he had been in near constant conflict with the hive, until they achieved integration.

Shino tried to imagine what such a battle would be like if, rather than a hive-mind fighting for self-protection, he was locked in constant battle with a blood-lusted demon lord, fighting to keep him from ripping everyone around him to shreds.

He could imagine, and was fairly certain he would lose such a battle, particularly with the kind of life Naruto had been forced to live.

No, he had the greatest of respect for the blond, even if he was an occasional annoyance.

1

So that was why everyone hated Naruto. Hinata frowned slightly, as she watched not only the blond ninja, but the rest of the young ninja. Most of them had taken it fairly well, although she had the feeling that Sakura, Neji, and his two teammates had already known.

Sakura was no surprise. After all, the two of them were teammates, and had fought many enemies together. She had probably seen his power at least once or twice before. And Neji had been beaten, if only just, by Naruto during the Chuunin exams. How Tenten and Lee found out, she didn't quite know.

She frowned as she saw Naruto twitch a little, and turned her focus onto the boy. His eyes were slowly opening.

1

Naruto grunted, as the seal finished converting the chakra he had drawn off of Kyuubi into his own. His eyes slowly slipped open, blinking several times to reestablish his bearings.

Yep. No trees. He wasn't in the forest. Time to see if he could move.

Okay, neck works, Naruto decided, as he noted Shino and Chouji to either side of him. The two ninja watched, slightly amused, and more than a little surprised, as Naruto slowly rose up to a sitting position.

1

Sakura looked over at her long-time teammate, and watched him sit up, slowly but surely. She stood, and made her way over to Chouji. "Give him a soldier pill." She muttered, waiting for the Akimichi to nod before she turned back to her task.

Giving Ino one hell of a dressing down.

She had never expected that her best friend, who had been the highest ranked kunoichi of their class when it came to practical concerns, to do something so stupid as break a genjutsu keeping her concealed.

Ino frowned as Sakura chewed her out. She had expected this, so that wasn't really the cause. Truthfully, she was contemplating the issue of Naruto and Kyuubi. As a specialist in minds and jutsus affecting them, this was more than a little interesting to her. How were they linked, were they influenced by each other? These and a million other questions flittered across her mind. And, until she knew the answers, she tried to withhold her judgment. After all, she knew very well the odd ways that the mind could work.

1

"Are you listening?" Sakura asked her blond companion. She knew the answer already, as the blond had zoned out several minutes ago. She watched the blond's eyes snap up to meet her own, before she seemed to cave in on herself slightly, staring at her hands that hung limply between her knees.

"I screwed up. I'll probably hear all about it, multiple times, from both Asuma and the Hokage. Not to mention my dad." Ino shook her head slowly, and looked at Sakura.

"How strong were they? B-class? A-class?"

Sakura shook her head, slowly. "S-class. We were lucky to live, once they saw us."

Ino sighed. Hearing Sakura, her best friend, the girl who she had helped out of her shell, years and years ago, talking down to her like that?

"Sakura?"

The pink haired girl looked down at her friend. The blond was silent for a moment, simply staring at her hands. They had migrated to the tops of her knees, although still limp.

Sakura watched, with an almost clinical detachment, as they tightened.


	20. Not Again

AN: I have no problem with reviews. In fact, I like to see them from time to time, makes it worth continuing this fic in the face of heavy paper writing loads. However, I like to see reviews that are more intelligently worded than 'good fic' or 'plz update'.

Chapter 20: Not Again!

Sakura looked up, as Chouji and Shino slowly helped the demon vessel to his feet. Standing, she made her way over to the boy. "You okay?"

Naruto looked at her for a moment, before breaking out his biggest grin. "I'm fine. How'd they take it?"

"Take what?"

Naruto and Sakura both turned, and found themselves eyes to chest with the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade. The blond medic-nin stood, arms akimbo, foot tapping. Naruto was fairly sure he was imagining it, but the ground seemed to shake with every tap, with small cracks beginning to form.

"Well…" Naruto paused. How do you tell the Hokage that, accidentally or not, necessary or not, you had just revealed an S-class secret to a bunch of ninja who wouldn't be qualified to know it for years, if ever at all.

Chouji saved him the effort, as he stepped around in front of the smaller ninja. Not that being smaller was difficult, but still.

"Naruto exposed himself to defend us against the Akatsuki."

"Oh." Tsunade said. "I don't see how dropping his…"

One

Two

"You what?" No screams of fury accompanied this question. And Naruto, knowing all the ways that anger can go, knew that to be a very bad sign. The blond stepped out from behind Chouji.

"They know." The flat tone left no doubt what he was talking about.

She sighed. That's what she'd thought he'd said.

"How bad was it?"

Naruto let a small smile come to his face. "Only three tails."

"Only three? Where is there an only in that?" Sakura demanded, swatting at the back of Naruto's head.

The blond ducked under the swing, afraid for what the pink haired girl's swing could do to the back of his head. Or its attachment to his neck. He rather liked that union.

Tsunade shook her head, and sighed. "Naruto, I'll need a prospective report on the powers of the Akatsuki you fought. Sakura, I'll need a prospective report of what happened that he had to go Kyuubi."

Sakura nodded.

Naruto complained. "I could give you that, easy."

The Hokage's eyes narrowed. "If you had to release that much Kyuubi chakra, he might have tainted your perceptions. We can't risk that. Live with it."

1

The vaguest of shadows slipped across the top of the castle, watching as the two Kages, and their entourages arrived. Time to get into position. Lord Orochimaru's orders must be carried out.

"Gn…" he grunted, as he felt himself fall to one knee. Orochimaru's orders must be carried out.

Maybe so. But he could work that to his advantage. He just hoped they'd get the hint.

1

It happened quickly. The Tsuchikage and Tsunade met in the middle of the castle, their respective entourages watching with the appearance of lazy ease.

Naruto sighed, as he watched the two begin to talk. Well, a quiet arguing would be better, as Naruto could see Granny Tsunade's body tense more and more as the conversation continued.

He had deployed his customary network of Kage Bunshins almost immediately. He had noticed the dark looks from both sets of ANBU, but ignored them. He did, however, send a message to his bunshins to stay out of their way.

1

A Kage Bunshin. Great, he was here. He couldn't afford to be discovered yet…

Ah, an opening. Time to go.

"Chidori."

1

Naruto felt the remerging of one of his Kage Bunshins, as it was abruptly destroyed. It hadn't seen the attacker's face, but the way it was destroyed told him all he needed to know.

Naruto was off and running before anyone realized he was moving. Kakashi saw his pupil begin to run towards the two Kages. Lunging to his feet, he burst into a run, intent on stopping him.

And thus he missed the shock of black hair until it rushed past, blue energy wrapped around its hand. Targetted at the Tsuchikage.

1

Naruto saw both sides of the field moving, reacting to his unexpected charge. That didn't matter, however.

Tsunade spun, locking eyes with the charging blond. He could see the anger in her eyes.

She could see the hardened purpose in his. And under that, just a touch of fear.

She opened her mouth to ask what the hell he was doing. Out of the corner of her eyes, he saw a shock of black hair with red eyes. And a fist-full of lightning.

And then it dawned on her. The song of a thousand birds.

Chidori.

Sasuke.

1

Naruto lunged. Sasuke drew back his fist, aiming directly at the Tsuchikage.

1

Sasuke saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. Too late to adjust, the punch was already thrown and committed.

1

"Damnit." Naruto coughed, as his hand locked onto Sasuke's wrist. "That's the second time you've done this to me." A bit of blood landed on their hands.

Sasuke frowned. Mission failed.

Naruto felt Sasuke grab his wrist, and pull it to his pouch. "Take it." He hissed. No sooner had Naruto grabbed the pouch, than Sasuke kicked away from him, pulling his arm out of the boy's chest.

Naruto fell to his knees, looking from the scroll pouch to Sasuke. Crossing his arms, the boy let his chin fall down and to the left. "Hn."

And he was gone, running up and over the wall of the castle, away from his failed assassination attempt.

Naruto felt a small smile part his lips. He got the hint.

"NARUTO!"

The blond turned. Sakura was running rapidly towards him. He smiled, and held up the pouch.

And fainted.


	21. Edict of the Shogun

AN: I'm under that lovely collegiate time crunch of finals. I'll try to make it up to you all soon, but this chapter is unfortunately going to be not only the last one you get for a couple weeks, but a fairly poor chapter as well. And as you noticed, I did switch the pairing, again. Honestly, the pairing isn't that important to the central plot as it is to various subplots I have planned, and it isn't likely to come into play for a long time to come yet. Don't be too surprised if it bounces a couple more times.

While this chapter does not resolve much of the tension of the previous chapter so much as set it up for the resolution, it does carry a whole bunch of hints all its own. I try very hard to make everything in here have a point, so see what you can guess at.

Chapter 21:

Naruto slowly fell to the ground, his orange uniform stained crimson. Blood rapidly poured from the wound, a demented waterfall descending from a cavern outlined in yellow-white stones. The bones of Naruto's ribs shifted painfully as he hit the ground, his skull bouncing off of the packed dirt.

The scene was hellacious. And it fit perfectly with the chaos that broke loose in the following moments.

The Tsuchikage bellowed an order, and a flock of ANBU responded, sweeping the castle, and pursuing the would-be assassin. At that same order, the slaves began to move, constructing a defensive perimeter. The slave masters oversaw their work. However, not even a ninja can be at all places at once, and a slave with any real skill can easily escape in such chaos.

It was this chaos that proved a blessing for one ninja in particular. Her heart screamed for her to help the fallen boy, and she rapidly limped in his direction, intent on helping the boy.

1

The ninja world possessed very few Shogunate edicts. The Shogun, for the most part, turned a blind eye to them, and they left him alone. For, before even the ninja wars, there had been great battles between the ninja and samurai. These wars had been of a ferocity that was never to be matched, as entire cities were thrown to the infernals of war.

No, this was a time no one wished to revisit.

And it was because of this that the Shogun remained largely apart from their society. Yet, as the reigning legal power of the land, he passed a few decrees, in an attempt to maintain the peace. One of these, was that no trained warrior, ninja or samurai, was to be enthralled in slavery.

The Tsuchikage, and the Hokage, knew this law quite well. As Hogakure didn't practice slavery, it was of no consequence for them. However, Iwagakure did. And they were stringent about this law, above all others.

Thus, why Tsunade and Sakura were surprised when their desperate efforts to staunch Naruto's rapid blood loss were joined in by a trained medic-nin. With the markings of a slave.

Her presence did not escape the eyes of the Tsuchikage either. Eyes widened for a moment, they hardened, and he turned to the one ninja who had remained with him.

"Sarasa, I need you to go find that slave's keeper. You will soon have a new toy, if I am not mistaken."

The Nibi no Neko's container face lit up with glee, as she bouncily limped off towards the slave masters, who stood, overseeing a seething mass of slaves.

It took her little time to find the man. In fact, he did the work for her. A strangled scream caught the attention of the vast majority of the ninja present. A slaver stood over the girl, his gauntlet-covered hand clenched. Seals on the gauntlet glowed a blood-red, as did the markings around the medic-nin-slave's neck.

Hell broke through another layer of reality.

1

"Jiraiya!" Tsunade screamed, as she pulled Naruto's shirt back further. The seal had taken a glancing blow from the Chidori. Tsunade was no expert on seals, and only Jiraiya had the knowledge necessary to be able to work with the Kyuubi's seal, but she knew that Naruto should have started healing already. And he hadn't.

That meant that something was drastically wrong. And Jiraiya needed to get to work on it. Now.

Two white-haired figures came running to the gathering around Naruto. One of them was Jiraiya, who was already pulling out a thin brush, mentally running over all the possible problems with the seal he could think of.

The other was a member of the elite, feared rankings of S-classed ninja. A former ANBU captain, and world-renowned ninja. And his fist, like that of his former protégé, screamed like a thousand birds.

It was aimed directly for the slave master.

And was deflected into the ground by a blur of green, who locked himself onto his long-time rival's arms, dug in his heels, and pushed back as hard as he could.

"Yosh! Control yourself, my rival!"

Like hell! Kakashi's roar was all but audible.

1

Jiraiya, Tsunade and the Tsuchikage temporarily ignored the ranting of the blood-lusted ninja, as Asuma and Kurenai arrived to aide Gai in containing him.

Sarasa smirked as her chains wrapped around the slave-master. Noting the nod of the Tsuchikage, she grinned, hoisting the slaver into the air, and limped towards the castle proper.

Jiraiya dipped the brush into Naruto's chest, covering it with his blood. Sakura watched, horrified, as the Seal Master set to work.

Sakura would have no time to rant at the pervert, however, as the slave-medic-nin's face began to pale.

Jiraiya frowned as he saw the girl fall over, but did nothing else. A part of his mind was hard at work, processing whatever the hell had Kakashi so furious. His student's star pupil wouldn't be so worked up without reason.

As he prepared to make the final stroke of the brush, reconnecting the final seal, a series of thought barraged Jiraiya's mind. He stopped for a moment, dipped the brush back into Naruto's chest, and let his hand move. The image in his mind was clear, and potent, and he knew exactly what the results would be. This was the only chance they would ever have to reinforce Kyuubi's cage. Might as well make use of it.

He let go of his arm, and let the image do the work.

His conscious mind, meanwhile, reeled with shock from the other thought. And suddenly, he understood Kakashi's fury completely.

Hell, he'd have done the same.

1

Tsunade's frown deepened the deeper the diagnostic jutsu pierced into the slave. Until, finally, she snarled, and withdrew the jutsu. "Sakura, deal with her. You should be able to." The Godaime Hokage stood up, and stalked over to the Tsuchikage.

"Hokage-sama, where were we?"

The blond's hand landed on the shoulder of the Tsuchikage, and pulled him close. "That slave over there, was once one of my medic-nins. Give me one good reason not to obliterate you right now."

"Because you cannot afford a second war."

1

Jiraiya sighed, as he dipped the brush one last time. There was nothing more he could achieve in the time constraints, as he closed up the broken edge of the seal. Immediately, Kyuubi's chakra flooded Naruto's body, he wound in his chest bubbling, as injuries healed at a speed the human body was not meant to accommodate.

Kakashi growled, as Jiraiya stood up. "Cool it." The older ninja said, as he walked past. "She'll be alright." Pausing for a moment, he leaned in to whisper in Kakashi's ear.

"Besides, this will never make the book if you keep this up."

The furious jounin paused for a moment, perversion crawling through his mind. Job done, Jiraiya walked away. Kakashi didn't notice.

The slaver was gone, but that wasn't important. He'd kill the bastard later. Right now, he had to be the suave, skillful master ninja.

Taking stock of the situation, Kakashi came to a pair of conclusions. One, that this was not the kind of position that suave, skillful master ninjas end up in. Two, that Kurenai was going to pay for freezing him in place, his nose itched from Asuma's cigarette smoke.

Oh yeah, and his former pupil had, with a jutsu that Kakashi taught him, shoved a fist through the chest of his a ninja who was once his teammate. Again.

The realization that she knew that jutsu, and in fact had been there when he first used it, stopped Kakashi cold.

"Shit."

Sakura's sentiments were just about the same, as across the field, one medic treated another, hoping that she could save the slave's life, while Tsunade struggled to save her future.


	22. Recoveries

Chapter 22: Recoveries

"Tsunade-sama." It was one of her slugs, its head poking out of the ground near her leg.

"Yes, Kaisaku?"

"The daimyos return under escort from the Shogun."

Both Kages paused at this, trading looks. The message there was clear enough. The Shogun was no longer willing to let their disputes remain between ninja. If they were to return to war, the reaction of the Shogun would be swift, and vengeful.

The Tsuchikage smiled ruefully. "I guess that declaring this cease-fire over would be pointless, then. The man has forced us to consider two options. Extension, or peace."

The proposal was just as Tsunade had expected. However, she needed more than that at this point in time. This gambit had to succeed.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "All things considered, I think we can do one better."

That brought the Tsuchikage up cold. Konohagakure was known for its bold gambits, it had earned its place as the village in Fire Country, but the woman couldn't possibly be proposing an alliance. "Really, how so?"

Slowly, a grin broke through Tsunade's carefully controlled expression. The Tsuchikage watched the Slug Sannin smile, and was reminded of the saying among ninja, that the most deadly opponent was a medic-ninja within arm's reach.

Maybe she could have been considering it after all.

1

Death reeks. Depending on the method, the stench can vary widely, and how long it takes to set in changes based on the same method. But in any case, the smells of excrement, decaying flesh and the gases of every bacteria in the body either dying or having a feast quickly build up, mix, and make for a putrid experience.

Apparently, the Kyuubi thought it great air freshener, for he applied it liberally throughout the catacombs that lead to his cage. Naruto never enjoyed coming here, but unfortunately he didn't have a choice. He was kind of forced to be here.

And forced to stop considering that as a massive set of claws hit the ground where he had stood a moment before, ripping chunks out of the wall. Kyuubi roared, the bars of his cage cracked, the seal pealing off.

Sasuke's power had grown considerably, Naruto had to admit. He had taken gut shots before, but none of them had ever managed to break through the seal on Kyuubi. He could only hope that Jiraiya was quick enough to fix it before the fox managed to catch him.

Once he was out of this mess, he'd have to figure out what to do about this new development in Sasuke's powers. He couldn't very well save the Uchiha if he had to worry about him breaking Kyuubi out with every attack.

Then again, he couldn't save the Uchiha if he was caught by Kyuubi either. Nothing to it but to backflip away from these claws, and hope Jiraiya was done soon.

1

Chakra deprivation, a dangerous state common to ninja who have recently been involved in tiring, difficult, or extremely punishing battles. The body's expenditure of chakra over a period of time is greater than its production and stockpiles can account for. Thus the body enters a shutdown as it tries to cope with the taxation, and produces chakra at an accelerated rate. In severe cases, the shutdown can spread to vital organs.

The outpouring of chakra to attempt the recovery from this state can be as dangerous to the body as the actual deprevation, capable of shattering the coils of a ninja if they attempt training or activity before recovery is complete. Unfortunately, most ninja are also stubborn, and unwilling to rest the necessary time unless forced.

Sakura knew very well what the textbook definition of the young woman's problem was. At this point, she had to try and staunch some of the chakra overflow, or the woman would be completely unable to use her chakra coils again.

Forming chakra around her hands, she set to work redirecting the energy through the coils.

The first thing she had to do was to ensure that her vital organs retained enough chakra to continue functioning. Following that, she needed to ensure a similar flow to the organs, so that the chakra didn't become so overbalanced in one of the limbs that it began pooling, thus shattering the coils in a given limb. Then, once this was established, she had to ensure its maintenance by guiding the rest of the chakra into her chakra reservoirs

All in all, this was going to be arduous. Failure in any of these three things, or severe disturbance in their performance could result in this woman's being forever crippled. Sakura envisioned that for a moment, and hardened her resolve.

1

Jiraiya frowned, as he looked back at Naruto. Why hadn't he woken up yet? The seal was fixed, so what was taking so long. His wounds are done repairing, it must be a mental issue.

What kind was the only question to Jiraiya. Naruto's answer would involve fuzz and tails if he could give it. However, he was a little distracted at the moment, as another massive set of claws struck the ground he had stood on a moment before, obliterating the blond.

"**You're getting slow, flesh sack."**

The comment echoed, bouncing off the walls and through the seemingly depthless space where Kyuubi's cage normally stood. Naruto smirked from on top of a shattered pillar. "Show's what you know."

Kyuubi frowned, before lifting his paw. And saw a set of exploding tags reach the end of their burn cycle, and explode. A slight yip slipped from his mouth. His eyes flashed red as a thick ball of energy generated in front of his mouth.

"**Now you die, fleshsack.**"

Naruto frowned, and began generating a Rasengan in his palm. Better to not find out what that chakra ball would do to him.

1

"Wait…"

Sakura frowned, as she looked up at the woman. "You're awake?"

"I'll… hold it like… this for a moment. Set the leg…"

Sakura frowned, before looking down at the woman's right leg. It was an old break, that was certain, and it had been poorly set. The lower half of the limb was at an almost 30 degree angle to the rest of it.

"Sure… Rin."

Sakura looked up, surprised to see Kakashi so close, forget that he knew the woman lying there. She was even more surprised when the woman smiled softly at her perverted sensei. "Hey."

Kakashi reached down to the break. "This will hurt." He cautioned, before focusing his chakra for a moment. Sakura could hear the snapping sound of a bone setting itself into position.

"Quickly… now set the bone… fragments back into… place." The woman sighed. Sakura felt the balancing of the flow taken from her control. Not questioning, she moved down to the leg, and began rapidly rebuilding the jigsaw puzzle of the woman's tibia and fibula.

Although the terms' weren't familiar to Naruto, he knew that he didn't want that energy sphere anywhere near them, or anything else of his person. Thus, as his Rasengan completed, he rushed at the demon fox's belly.

The sphere was beginning to shudder with power now, the effect was disturbing, as its shuddering gave the sensation of a violin playing hard in the background.

"**When the violin stops, fleshsacks die."**

"Fox's first, please." Came from beneath the fox's belly, as the Rasengan slammed into him. It had been a long time since pain on that level struck either Kyuubi, or Rin.

Rin, however, was much less durable than Kyuubi, and let out a slight whimper as the last of the bone shards settled into place. "Focus the energy, to the limb. It will accelerate the healing."

"How do you know it won't burst the coil?"

"Focus it on the break. Trust me." Sakura frowned at that. "Anytime a wounded medic says trust her…"

"Just do it, Sakura." Kakashi spoke, his eye revealing nothing. "After all, she's the one who put this in." A hand strayed up to the eye that Sakura knew had earned him the title Copy Ninja Kakashi.

A momentary pause, a nod, and a redirecting of chakra. Sakura only hoped that it would work.

Naruto found his hopes for such dashed shortly after he detonated the Rasengan in Kyuubi's stomach. The fox, with agility surprising for its size, ceased the spin, and took aim at the blond, unleashing the blast of energy.

Naruto knew he couldn't hope to take a direct hit, as he began to run. A ninja's speed is proportional to the amount of chakra they can precisely focus to their feet. Naruto, while having chakra to burn, lacked the control to use it all at one time. Still, he forced himself to move faster, faster, ever faster. He couldn't let that thing hit him.

The ball of energy burned at his back as it descended. It was slower than he had expected, or than it had first appeared. It seemed to be losing momentum as it closed on the ground, rather than gaining it.

It was then that Naruto noticed that he, too, was losing momentum. Looking down, he saw motes of dust and sand picked up, and begin to stream backward, towards the shattered gates of Kyuubi's prison. Small stones began to follow, and soon the stones in the walls began to shake slightly.

Kyuubi roared, as the ball of energy turned towards the gate. He would not be contained, he would let his defiance be known, as the sphere flew at the cage. His prison would never again contain him. Those gates had held him for the last time.

Naruto lunged forward, rolling, dashing, using ever-larger pieces of rock as leverage to merely maintain his distance. He couldn't let this suck him in, he still had too much to do.

"_Remember the gifts."_

Naruto's eyes shot open, as he searched for the source of the voice. "What the hell? Have I got another voice now?" Naruto shouted, as he bounced between a pair of parallel rocks, moving forward slightly, only to be pulled back to where he had begun the bouncing.

"_Remember the gifts."_

Naruto frowned. It had to be the kitsunes that the voice meant. But which gift. None of them would help in this…

"Meditation for the unwelcome influence" 

Of course! Naruto smirked, as his hands came together into a ram seal. He considered closing his eyes for a moment, before they shot open very wide indeed. He didn't know that rocks _came_ that big! Glancing back for a moment, he decided that it wasn't quite the size of Kyuubi's head, but it came close.

Jumping up, hands still in the form of the ram seal, he felt his foot catch on the edge of an outcropping ledge. Lunging up twice more, he landed the side of his foot into the top of the rock, tilting it over. Riding the rock down, he jumped up, waiting for its rotation to bring the bottom around again. When it did, he was ready, using it to propel himself further forward.

Okay, no closing eyes. Naruto began to focus on the incantation that the scroll had contained. It was simple, so simple that he hadn't bothered to try it. Didn't think it would work.

"One body. One mind. One heart. One soul. My body. My mind. My heart. My soul. Release the hold of demon powers manifold. One body. One mind. One heart. One soul."

Naruto was slightly startled to see his legs begin to disappear from beneath him, as the wind's pull loosened. The chant cut out for a moment, and the wind sent him spinning back towards the gate, as his legs reappeared.

He picked it up again with a renewed fervor at that point, and was immediately dropped on his back. He suppressed the gasp of pain as he managed to gasp out the next phrase of the chant, picking it up again.

Kyuubi's roar was the very anthem of defiance. He had finally been ridden of this seal. He would not again be contained by it.

"Quickly, child. My love has lost himself, I fear my request of proof too great a burden for the mind I loved. Be gone from here, and my brother will do the rest."

Naruto frowned as saw the voice's body in his mind at that moment. The goddess of destruction the Kyuubi had claimed to be his mate so long ago. That was who was speaking to him.

"One day, you will return him to himself, and to me. I know it. But that day is not now. He still bears too much of my power in him, and too much madness. At the same time, you do not yet bear the power to break the hold of insanity his corporeal body has been subjected to. Be ready, for the day will come that you must break this hold."

Naruto nodded. "I'll do it. It's a promise." The goddess smiled, as the blond disappeared.

"I know you will, Naruto Uzimaki. Now then, brother. Let us contain my love once again."

At that moment, the Death God appeared next to the goddess. Yes… Lets.

Sakura, were she aware that the Death God was detained, would be quite certain that it was the only reason Rin didn't die, as her chakra system began to go into a dress-rehearsal for Ragnarok. The medic-ninja did not seem at all surprised, as she actually smiled. "It worked."

Tsunade, however, immediately came rushing over to the unconscious ninja. "Sakura, what the hell happened?"

"You must be Tsunade." The medic said, as she sat up. Kakashi helped sit her up, and she gratefully reclined into his arm. "I'm Rin."

The Hokage's face creased into a frown, before the name triggered a bell. One of the kunoichi from the slave ring to the north. The same one Naruto broke wide open. The medic-ninja that Arashi had once written her about, asking that she might come back and take her under wing once the war was over.

Of course, she had refused then. But if this was that same girl, then she could not possibly allow for her to remain in such a condition. And she damned well couldn't let her die. Her hands began to glow. "If you're going to fuck it up, Sakura, get out of the way."

"Tsunade, don't snap at her. This is a triage technique I developed during the war." Rin's smile was almost heart-wrenching. "It's the only way I could think of to heal that leg, it had been broken for so long, it required a massive flow of chakra to reset it. In the war, this was how we'd get ninja back on the line quickly."

Tsunade frowned. All three medic ninjas knew what the problems would be with putting a ninja back on the line after a treatment like this. The chakra deprivation would be solved, and wounds might have been mostly healed, but they would still be prone to opening, slowing the ninja down. The technique would also burn through a large supply of what would become their latent chakra, leaving them with precious little. Not to mention the risk of ruptured chakra coils. All in all, it was a technique Tsunade frowned upon heavily.

"The leg has been broken for years, Tsunade. It had to be done." Rin said, before coughing slightly. "Sakura, I think…" The girl's hands were already at work, rebalancing the chakra flow.

The Hokage nodded. The Tsuchikage still required her delicate bedside manner. She intended to see that he got plenty of it. By the time she was done, he'd see things her way.

Otherwise, they were all in serious trouble.


	23. Personae Non Gratae

Chapter 23: Personae Non Gratae

Tsunade was not surprised at the Tsuchikage's willingness to agree to her terms, all things considered. If pushed to give a reason that he was so willing to agree, however, she would point to the shogun's intervention with the daimyo's. The Shogun was a force no ninja truly wanted to anger, as the results could cause a conflict that had no parallel in recent memory. His desire to see the conflict solved quickly and decisively was an serious shif in the power balance of the negotiations indeed.

As their villages were too freshly at war to truly consider an alliance, the obvious answer was a pact of non-aggression, an agreement to refrain from hostilities and covert operations within each others territories. Operations that the Kage was notified of were quite alright, as long as their purposes were for the security of either, or both, nations.

Without their accompanying caravans, the ninja moved considerably faster, with the Konoha regiment reaching the boarder of Fire Country within three days. Their reception was quite unexpected, however.

1

"Break here, we'll move on in half an hour." The ninja caravan let no visible sign of relief break their composure as they dropped into a clustered set of clearings. Within instants of hitting the ground, ninja were moving at speeds the untrained could never match, preparing traps and warning devices of innumerable variety.

Naruto reclined in the branches of an overhanging tree, watching the stars overhead. His mind continuously flashed back to the conflict between himself and Kyuubi. The fox's power and speed had been overwhelming.

"You okay?" Naruto looked down, his eyes meeting those of his pink-haired teammate. "You've been nearly silent since you woke up."

The blond smiled slightly. "I'm fine. I've just been thinking."

"That's a shock." The girl chuckled, before lunging up onto a branch slightly above her teammate. "What's on your mind?"

"Among other things, Sasuke. He's gotten incredibly powerful if he could damage the Kyuubi seal. I need to figure out what to do about that. I mean, its not like I can save him if I have to worry about him shattering the seal on Kyuubi with every punch he throws."

"Maybe Jiraiya can help with that? He did repair it, after all. Maybe he knows something about the seal that we don't?"

Naruto thought for a moment, before he threw a punch into the air in front of himself. Leaving his hand extended, he squeezed his fist tight. "Maybe. He's good with seals and all, but I don't know, the Kyuubi one is complicated. Besides, that's not the only thing I'm worried about. I'm beginning to realize how many questions we have that don't have answers."

Sakura didn't respond. She knew Naruto would get to it. He didn't disappoint.

"Its just… We don't know what's going on with Orochimaru, for one. He ignores us almost completely for two and a half years, then sends Sasuke to try and kill not one, but two Kages at a peace summit. Then Sasuke gives me those scrolls, and its like he's his old self all over again. Then he up and disappears."

The blond sighed, and slammed his fist against the side of the tree. He remembered giving the pouch of scrolls to Tsunade, who immediately put them into a special container, to deal with later. She had, of course, then reamed him for not giving them to her sooner.

"Then there's Akatsuki. They piss me off more and more every time we meet them, and this time they almost got us. We don't even know what they want Kyuubi and the other demons for. But they could have the rest of them, except for the Nibi, and we'd never know. I'm sick of not knowing things, Sakura."

"Naruto, you dolt. We're ninja, secrets are as much a part of this job as deception. If everything were that easy, we would be unemployed."

The blond had stopped listening, she could tell. However, the tension in his posture said that she wasn't going to like the reason. His eyes flickered down to the clearing below, and then widened almost comically.

"Shit. We're surrounded."

Sakura managed to suppress a start. "How."

"Don't know, but the last of my Kage Bunshins just got cut down. By snakes of ink."

Sakura knew what that meant. She recognized that technique description from the one mission she had undergone with the user. It was, after all, his signature art form. The two dropped to the ground, hoping to make the maneuver seem casual. The more time they could buy before the assault, the better. Hopefully, Sai hadn't realized that Naruto had picked up on their presence.

Naruto wasn't the only person in the area to pick up on the ambush, fortunately. Tsunade and Jiraiya both casually began to take up positions, ready to watch one another's backs. The ANBU escorting the two, noticing this, also began to prepare themselves.

Akamaru's sense of smell detected the intruders shortly after they destroyed the last of the Kage Bunshins, as they finally circled upwind of him. Kiba jumped slightly as his own nose, as well as Shino's bugs, picked up their presence. Both Hinata and Neji activated their Byakugan, hoping that their assailants wouldn't realize in time.

No such luck, as with a silent order from Sai, the assault began.

1

Ninja battles are prone to cover wide areas, as the ninja involved lure allies apart from one another in attempts to eliminate the weakest ninja first, allowing them to then focus multiple warriors on the remaining, stronger ninja, without fear of interruptions from their opponent's allies.

Shikamaru knew this very well. It was basics for ninja combat tactics. However, their opponents seemed unwilling to do this. According to Hinata and Neji, their opponent's didn't have enough chakra auras in the area to be incredibly numerous, so numbers were on the side of the assaulted Konoha ninja.

"Listen, I have a plan." Shikamaru said, as he rolled out of the way of another kunai. Registering something unusual, he dove away from the kunai. Spying the wire, he frowned, realizing the simple yet potentially deadly trap.

Wires. Wires on the kunai had created a simple web sufficient to keep him from escaping if he didn't realize their presence before the explosive tag was thrown. Fortunately, he had caught on in time.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru snarled, as he drew a kunai, and sliced the wires, lunging away from the area. He was force to roll to the side, as a secondary trap flung more kunai at him. "Very troublesome."

"Really? You think so?" Kiba snapped. Akamaru was completely unable to evade the kunai, and was thus forced to rely on Hinata to deflect them.

"I think we outnumber them. It's the only reason that they wouldn't attack us straight out in this situation. They're obviously very skilled, and have the advantage of surprise, so it's the only thing that makes sense."

Naruto frowned for a moment, before nodding. Knowing Sai, it would be just his style. He grinned. "Alright then. We'll just have to take the fight out to them." The blond's eyes scanned the forest for a moment. And his grin became positively feral. "Gotcha." He lunged into the woods.

"Naruto! You idiot!" Sakura's shout echoed through the air after him, as he rolled with the ninja he had managed to grab in his lunge. He had obviously caught the other off guard, but you could never tell from the fight he was putting up. Naruto lost his oxygen supply rather abruptly as the ninja kicked himself away from the blond, bringing their roll to a halt. The other landed in a crouch, as Naruto assumed a pouncing stance.

"You must be Naruto. Funny, Sai said you were stupid, but this is worse than he ever implied. You can't possibly hope to beat me in single combat."

"You better believe that I can. Because I'm about to do it."

"That idiot." Sakura muttered, as she scanned the forest surrounding them. "We've got no clue how many enemies there are out there. Why'd he do that?"

"He's Naruto. Does he need another reason?" Neji replied calmly. "Besides, there are only three… no, four more. One is flitting in and out of my sight range, maintaining his distance.

Shikamaru nodded. "That must be the attack's commander, then." He assumed his thinking posture, mind churning over what they already knew, hoping to quickly compose a plan of action.

"Yosh! We shall protect you as you plan, my friend!" The green beast settled into a set of stretches, interjecting himself between Shikamaru and the surrounding forests. Chouji nodded, before setting himself on the other side. Around him, the remaining genin from that exam so long ago settled in to wait for Shikamaru's strategy, and defend him while he constructed it.

Sai landed next to the three ninja who remained. "What's going on?"

"The Nara has begun to strategize, sir. We need to move now, before he has a plan together."

Sai nodded, before he sent two birds of ink flying away. "Reinforcements should come soon." Nods were the only indicators he got, as he lunged away to oversee the rest of the strike. He had been entrusted with its proper execution; he intended to see it through.

Near the cliff, Naruto found himself hard-pressed to keep up with his boast. The ninja was very good. Rolling to the side, he twisted his lower torso, spinning onto his hand, and slashing down and right with his foot, aiming for the muscle that ran from shoulder to neck.

His opponent caught the kick with his forearm, slamming a palm into Naruto's lower leg. The blond didn't even flinch, as he used the momentum of the strike to bring the leg under himself, allowing him to thrust the other leg at his opponent's stomach. The ninja grabbed the limb, wrapping it into the crook of his elbow next to his body. And then brought his palm slamming down towards Naruto's hip, dislocating the limb.

The blond grunted, before bringing the other leg around, shifting his hand's position on the ground. Turning on to his side, ignoring the pain of the dislocated hip, he brought the other leg back in a savage kick, striking his opponent in the side of the head with the back of his leg.

The ninja released Naruto's leg, rolling with the impact to lessen the damage. Nonetheless, it was greater than he'd expected. Standing, he was surprised at the wooziness that overtook him.

Naruto, meanwhile, turned on his side, taking time to judge the angle carefully. And slammed the side of his hip and lower body against the ground. He didn't bother to cry out, as the ball and socket joint of his hip settled back into place. Both ninja heard the sickening noise of the joint realigning. Naruto stood, either not feeling the pain through adrenalin, or ignoring it. His opponent saw the grin and the charge that followed it. He blocked Naruto's kick, grasping the leg firmly. Reversing Naruto's momentum, he drove the boy's upper body in to the ground.

"That the best you got?" He sneered. Naruto rolled over, his hands flashing through seals

"Don't you underestimate me. I'm just getting started. Katon: Myaku Kaen no Jutsu" Naruto snapped, as he slammed his palms together, releasing a veritable storm of flames. The ninja's eyes widened, as he lunged away.

"Son of a…" He grunted, glancing at his arm. Yep. Roasted.

Naruto slowly staggered to his feet, his front a veritable mass of burnt flesh. Burns took somewhat longer to heal, as the damage to the body was deeper and more extensive than a simple slash or broken limb. Still, the flesh that had burned bubbled sickeningly as it began to recover from the damaged flesh straightened out like so many wrinkles in a shirt.

Seemingly a world away, Jiraiya and Tsunade stood back to back, four young ninja in ANBU masks surrounding them. All were unconscious.

"Ne." Tsunade frowned, as she looked down at the ninja in front of her. "Danzou authorized this."

"No. The Rokudaime Hokage authorized this."

Tsunade looked up, eyes meeting with the emotionless black gaze of the ninja she had heard her apprentice call Sai. "What?"

"Master Danzou was declared Rokudaime Hokage as of a day ago. You, and all those who accompany you, are personae non gratae in the Country of Fire."


	24. Sputtering Fire

Chapter 24: Sputtering Fire

Naruto launched himself at the ANBU, swinging his leg around at the side of his opponent's ribcage. The ninja arm came up, deflecting Naruto's leg away as he himself bounced away from the blond ninja. Naruto guessed the reaction, as the ANBU realized to his dismay. Naruto's Kage Bunshin caught him across the jaw with a kick. The ANBU's reaction was a kunai through the stomach with his good arm, the momentum of which carried him into a roll.

"You've got to do better than that. Even you can't keep throwing Kage Bunshin's forever."

Naruto chuckled. "I don't need to. You better believe that I've got more to me than that." The ANBU's eyes widened as he felt sparks falling on his skin. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a trio of paper bombs reaching the end of their fuses.

"Oh sh! was as far as he got into the curse before the bombs exploded, wiping out most of the ANBU's torso.

Naruto let a smirk slip its leash as he lunged off into the forest. He was intent on rejoining his allies before the battle was through. They could need his help.

As it turned out, his assistance wasn't at all necessary, as the battle was well finished by this point in time. Two ninja lay on the ground, their bodies too still to be unconscious. Naruto frowned as he stared down at the two.

"What the hell are they doing?" Naruto asked. Crouching down to examine the unconscious ninja, he noted again the Konoha symbol on the mask.

He spun, hands falling into a combat stance as Kakashi's "Yo" rung out of the trees. The ninja dropped down to the ground, and motioned for the chuunin and Neji to follow. They didn't question, following the Copy Ninja into the forest as if they were so many extra shadows.

They reached Tsunade's camp quickly enough, and found that they were not at all alone in their surprise by this attack. Shock flowed through the ninja in the camp, which Naruto realized had been moved to outside of the Country of Fire's borders. At this point, they were just inside of the Country of Rain's borders again.

"What's going on?" he demanded, as he found Tsunade, Jiraiya and Rin muttering together.

"Not now, brat." One of Tsunade's ANBU said, intercepting the blond ninja. Tsunade swung out, her fist stopping half an inch from the ANBU's ear.

"There's been a coup." Jiraiya said with an accompanying sigh and sweep of the arm. "We've been banished."

Naruto nodded, before the expected reaction burst forth. "WHAT!!"

1

"You know, for a bunch of recently declared Missing-Nin, you really don't defend yourselves well." Temari's voice cut through the foliage surrounding their camp as she stepped clear of it. "Or did you just let me through?"

Tsunade looked up at the fan-wielder. "Subaku no Temari." A note of caution was present in her voice. She was aware of the power that the girl wielded, and although it was more than likely that the chuunins could stop her if nothing else, she could easily decimate their forces before they could slow her down, particularly with them all grouped together like this.

Several other ninja had realized this as well as more than half a dozen of them attempted to inconspicuously spread out, assuring that Temari could not hit all of them in one swipe.

This did not go unnoticed by the blond sand shinobi. "I come as an ambassador from the Kazekage. The first thing he wants me to make clear is that Sunagakure and the Wind Daimyo have come to the mutual agreement that they will not recognize the new government of Konohagakure. As far as our nation is concerned, you are still the Hokage."

The tension in the camp immediately broke at that declaration. As the former ANBU ninjas moved to remedy the lack of security that Temari had commented upon, she drew in closer to Jiraiya and Tsunade. She was surprised when not only Sakura and Shikamaru, but also Naruto drew in closer to the three of them.

"So what's up?" Shikamaru asked, settling into a position where he could easily enter his thinking pose at a moment's notice. Temari decided to put their traditional bantering aside for the moment, she had business to attend to.

"Well, crybaby." Okay, not completely aside. "Gaara has received a missive from the 'Rokudaime' that declares the lot of you traitors."

"Gaara has sent missives to the other nations that they join him in disavowing the Rokudaime. He has also offered amnesty to you, and all the ninja who wish to remain with you."

"Wait a minute." Shikamaru muttered. "Why so much work? We're allies, sure, but no ninja treaty lasts for very long. Why all this?"

Temari frowned, before shrugging. "You'd have to ask him. Not even I really understand my little brother all the time. All I know is that you've been offered amnesty. I'd suggest taking it."

Tsunade broke her silence. "So what's the excuse he used for the exile?"

The fan wielding shinobi sighed. "He had a fairly good-sized list, but the damning ones was aiding and abetting a major threat to Konoha's security, and gross incompetence in the face of another."

Naruto sat silent, although everyone in the room knew exactly who it was that was the 'major threat'. Him. He finally voiced the thought.

Jiraiya nodded slowly. "Most likely. Danzou is a war hawk, he was raised during the Great Shinobi Wars, and like the Third, he fought in more than a few of them." Naruto tilted his head in interest. Jiraiya chuckled once again at the foxlike trait. "But he never got over the might makes right way of thinking. He takes war and violence as the best solution, to any problem."

Sakura frowned at that. "Seems to me that most of the ninja world agrees with him." It was Jiraiya's turn to frown. "I mean, it took the shogun stepping in to prevent the Rock and Leaf from going back to war."

Tsunade frowned as a chilling thought made its way through her. "We've got to go, now. We'll take your brother up on his amnesty offer."

Temari nodded. "Good to hear it. Let's get moving."


	25. HonooHanran

As a quick statement before I start this chapter in ernest. If I don't mention a character in a chapter, as I didn't with Rin in the previous two, don't presume that they've been forgotten. Rin is not forgotten. With Kakashi's reaction, do you really think he'd let me?

Kakashi: Damned right I wouldn't.

Oh crap… Please don't tell me that I've got Museitis now.

Jak: Your problem, not ours.

Help me.

Chapter 25: Honoo-Hanran

Tsunade, the newly deposed Godaime Hokage, faced a difficult choice. Although the Princess of the Sand Sabaku no Temari might have passed unnoticed and unhindered through Fire Country, her troupe of newly exiled ninja would find the feat near impossible to reproduce. Their numbers were meant for protection and intimidation, not stealth and concealed movement over long distances of hostile territory. To their advantage, however, the opponent's forces would not be well dug in, and the likelihood of them being able to mobilize a second counterassault force quickly enough, and of sufficient size and skill to stop them was almost nonexistent. However, Danzou had not been a ninja for his entire life without learning a few things. As the veteran of more than a few wars himself, he was likely to have had these same thoughts, and to have made some sort of compensation for such planning. What this compensation would be, and how it would impact on their ability to cross the country, Tsunade wasn't entirely certain she wanted to find out.

Her alternative, no more appealing than the potentially dangerous trek across their former home, was to skirt the Fire Country entirely, and to make their way through the surrounding countries to Sunagakure. Although this plan took them out of the crosshairs of Danzou, it put them into a whole new minefield, one of potentially greater impact. Of the countries that buffered the five Great Shinobi Nations, many of them were at best lukewarm in their opinion of Konoha, and Tsunade had no doubt that they would capitalize on an opportunity to strike at such a large concentration of ninja from the village that had so long held their enmity. Above and beyond mere spite, however, came the very likely substantial bounties on the heads of many ninja in their caravan. The possibility of vengeance and monetary compensation was a duo that Tsuande had no desire to challenge the effectiveness of.

As if this were not enough of a problem, Tsunade found a second barricade, very possibly an insurmountable at this point in time. The trip around Fire country would take a 36 hour journey, and turn it into almost a week in duration. This extension of time, in and of itself wouldn't be too great a price to pay normally were the second barrier not to exist. That barrier bore the name Orochimaru. The countries that they were to pass through played, unwittingly or unwillingly, host to the various rotating bases of Orochimaru and his Sound Village. Tsunade had no illusions of the power of her former teammate and the ninja under his command. By spending so long traveling through the countries that played host to him, she knew that the potential for an apocalyptic confrontation was so great that; in the world of a ninja where unknowns are more deadly than kunai, a possibility is as good as a fact., and a high probability might as well be a signed invitation, the confrontation would be unavoidable.

Although difficult, Tsunade's decision had only one truly acceptable answer. Turning directly for Sunagakure, Tsuande and her caravan began their hell for leather rush across the breadth of Fire Country. This decision, once made, left them with another problem.

There were precious few ways for large groups of ninja to move across long distances unnoticed. Kakashi, a veteran of the Rock-Leaf war that their recent peace treaty had, hopefully, still managed to prevent a resurgence of, knew this from personal participation in several major battles and offensives under the command of the man who would eventually become the Yondaime Hokage.

The Godaime Hokage was in possession of a combat record that was very plausibly more extensive than his was. She knew that as well, and it reflected in the commands she gave, with the entire caravan broken down to their component units and traveling in a loose formation about half a mile across. Often known as the Ninja's Highway, the treetops were the most commonly moved through part of the forest as ninja bolted to and froe across the country. Avoiding the Highway, although it forced them to bend to the demands of terrain somewhat more than they were used to, saved them from potential headlong confrontations with Danzou's forces. However, remaining out of the treetops would also slow them heavily as they negotiated the terrain below. This slowdown would keep them deep inside what was rapidly going to become hostile territory far longer than would be suggestible.

This was not made any better by the presence of wounded ninja from the battles with the ANBU, and the still physically limited Rin. The decision, therefore, was that the formation be split between treetop movement on the outside edges of the formation, and a ground-based progression in the formation's core. The core consisted of the wounded ninja, the Hokage and Jiraiya, Temari, Rin, and Teams 7, 8, 10, and Team Gai. The formation's purpose was for the outward, tree bound ninja to encounter be the able to notice and engage with hostile force before the more inward, presumably injured or noncom forces could be drawn into a conflict. This formation would be declared by historians to have strongly influenced the course of Konoha's history, as this single allowed for Tsunade's small caravan of Konoha ninja to meet up with the Honoo-Hanran

1

Twelve hours into the journey through Fire Country found Naruto walking alongside Kakashi and Sakura. As it had been during his travels with Jiraiya, he found that walking along the ground was so much less engaging than the tree running that he was used to. The predictable up-and-down of footfalls was enough to drive him mad. Glancing around the group, he found that he was not the only one faced with this problem, as most of the other younger ninja were also beginning to drift off of their states of alertness.

At some level, Naruto knew as well as all the others that this was a bad idea. They were in territory that they knew to be hostile, although whether or not the surrounding area knew that yet was a different question entirely, and a moot point besides. The possibility of attack at any point in time made attention to their surroundings paramount to survival.

This thought was what prevented Naruto from noticing the tripwire before he broke it. It did not prevent him from hearing the distinct noise of three kunai breaking through the air on a collision course with his jugular, aorta, and solar plexus, A quick combination of Kage Bunshin and Kawarimi provided the kunai with another, far more disposable target to vent their frustrations on while Naruto and the surrounding ninja came to an immediate halt, the entirety of their attention refocused on the situation at hand and the possible source of the projectiles. In this particular case, experience proved its value as Asuma and Kakashi launched themselves at the kunai point of origin. They arrived to find nothing more than a well-concealed trap.

"What the…" Asuma muttered, as he examined the construction. "Am I going senile or…"

"Not yet." Was Kakashi's immediate response. "Trap's barely Genin level, but the concealment looks like the work of a Jounin, possibly even an ANBU."

Asuma shook his head, more than a little confused. What the hell kind of ninja comstructs a trap at Genin level then hides it like an ANBU? The vast disparity in skill level would give away the maker's abilities to any half-competent ninja.

"We'll find out eventually." Kakashi answered the unspoken question. "But I think we need to remind the kids to pay attention. They're starting to drift, and that could be deadly here."

"Discrete but didactic, huh?" Asuma said with a grin, as he dropped down to the forest floor, Kakashi barely half a second behind him. The two Jounin quickly made their report to the Hokage, and rejoined the now clustered chuunin and sensei's. The groups spread out again, getting back up to speed.

The wind shifted. More senior ninja noted it for what it was, and continued on. Kiba stopped dead as Akamaru growled.

"What was that?" the boy asked his longtime partner. The growl rumbling from the massive half-wolf was enough to bring Kiba to a halt. "How's that possible?" Another growl. "Good point."

"Kiba, what's he saying?" Kurenai stopped to look at her team's designated brawler. The look he turned towards his sensei was a surprising mixture of confusion, jubilation and suppressed hope.

"He says that he smells Hana, about two miles in that direction." More growls issued from the dog. "Her smell has plenty of company, apparently." Kiba said with a chuckle. "Akamaru's complaining about how hard it was to pinpoint it." Unfortunately whether or not Akamaru's previously infallible nose was correct, the direction that it was pointing them towards was directly towards Konoha from their present location.

Kurenai was perhaps more surprised than she should have been that the Hokage heard her student's declaration. Snapping, she was rewarded with the immediate presence of one of her ANBU. "Send a team to investigate. Report your findings." The ANBU, with a "Hai" and a bow, disappeared.

It was a tense half an hour before the ANBU team returned. Dropping down on the outskirts of the group, one of them approached the Hokage, and dropped to one knee. "Lady Hokage, there is an encampment in that direction. From what we observed, they appear to be refugees from Konoha. The vast majority of them are ninja."

"Did they detect you?" Tsunade's question was more than an issue of curiosity. If they were detected, it was entirely possible that the encampment might disappear before they could reach it. After all, it had been ANBU who had driven them from Konoha. They were likely to be more than slightly skittish of appearing and vanishing ANBU.

"Difficult to say, m'lady. Ibiki and Anko were noted to be among their number." Tsunade smiled at the mention of two of her most powerful ANBU commanders escaping Konoha.

1

The encampment proved to be a fairly well-entrenched cave complex. As they drew closer, Naruto was fairly certain that they were under observation. This proved to be correct, as Yamato had met them at the complex, motioning for them to follow him into its recesses.

They quickly passed by a trio of thick wooden gates, the first of which was set around the first bend in the cave, with the following gates each set another thirty feet back. Their height did not quite reach the top of the cave, allowing defenders to climb them and launch attacks from behind their relative safety. Normally their construction would have been impossible so quickly. Yamato's Mokuton techniques were probably responsible for these constructs.

Inside the depths of the caverns, the ninja caravan found itself met by close to two hundred ninja ranking from the rawest of Genin and academy students up through Jounin and ANBU.

"How?"

1

Godaime Hokage Tsunade's connecting forces with the Honoo-Hanran was an event that could not possibly be overvalued. This chance meeting, owed to the superior sense of smell of the Inuzuka hound Akamaru, allowed for a coordination of forces, resources and knowledge that was far greater than the Hokage's personal caravan could have established. The information provided by the refugees at the Honoo-Hanran fortress of Tobihi would be invaluable.

To the exiles of the Honoo-Hanran, the return of their Hokage in perfect health would prove to be a morale booster beyond comparison. The notice of the Hokage's relocation to their allied territory of Sunagakure was met with muted cheers. The removal of their central commander from immediate harm provided great support for morale, as experienced ninja realized she would be able to attempt to garner aide for them better from a more secured location.

By the Hokage's insistance, only those of Chuunin rank or above would be remaining in Tobihi, with the younger ninja taken to Sunagakure. Teams Eight and Gai remained behind at Tobihi, as Teams Seven and Ten continued along with the Hokage into Sunagakure. This division of their numbers, the most complete that they had faced since they became ninja, would prove to be a turning point for all involved.

1

With the reallocation of forces complete, it took slightly less than 30 hours for the Hokage and her accompanying ninja to reach the border of the Wind Country. The relocation had resulted in many of the most experienced ninja being replaced with Genin and academy students. As an ANBU escort sent by Tobihi dropped away at the border of Wind Country, the Sand Princess Temari took on the position of guide that she had been sent to fulfill.

"It will take about 8 hours to reach the village from here. Unfortunately, its wind storm season, so our route will be somewhat erratic. Do not stray from the group for any reason." Temari said, boring her eyes into the Genin and Academies, "The storms can flay your skin from your bones in a minute."

Shikamaru glanced over at the students, focusing on those he knew from personal experience to be troublesome. "You had best listen to her." Shikamaru said, his hands migrating to his pockets. "I intend to."

Although none of his students had any illusions about Shikamaru knowing everything, they were aware that he was a smart man. That he was going to take Temari's advice was an effective method of persuasion.

As the group settled at an oasis several hours later, with the vast majority of the Genin and Academy Students nearly passing out from exhaustion and the heat, Naruto commented on the attentiveness they had paid Shikamaru's statement.

"You know, we're lucky you're on our side." Naruto declared, as Teams Seven and Ten sat under the shade of a pair of palm trees. After a moment's time, Temari joined them. "With the way those Genin and Academy Student's listen to you, you could turn the whole lot of them against us with a couple sentences."

"Well, they're not the one's we need to worry about." Shikamaru said. "It's the one's that Danzou's got his hands on now we need to be careful about. Hopefully Iruka can minimize the damage Danzou does to them."

Naruto's expression darkened with the reminder that his surrogate brother was as deep behind enemy lines as you could possibly get. The risk involved in the position was incredible, but there was nothing to be done about it. Information was an invaluable tool in the ninja world, and Iruka would prove to be a font of it if he got Danzou's trust. With that same trust, he might just be able to do the impossible, and prevent an entire generation of Genin from being brainwashed by Danzou into seeking war whenever possible.

"Okay, you do not get to frown." Sakura said from next to Naruto. "You frown and the rest of us begin to think that we're really in a hopeless situation." Her slight smile as she said this brought Naruto back to reality. He nodded, and looked over at the Genin and Academies. "I think we're going to have to work on something else for them to wear once we reach the village."

Temari chuckled, and stood up. "Time to get moving. Sooner we get there, sooner we can get you all out of this heat." The prospect of some place where hair didn't have to be plied off of skin with a kunai was enough to get the ninja up and moving again.


	26. Sunagakure

Chapter 26: Sunagakure

They saw the entrance to Sunagakure long before they reached the village. The circular fortress of rock walls, with its single entrance was as distinctive as the Hero's Gates of Konoha, and just as unnatural. Temari kept the younger genin and academies entertained during that last hour of walking by telling them how the massive stone wall had come to be.

Naruto had to admit, the story was interesting, if disturbingly similar to how the village of Konoha was built by the Shodaime Hokage. His counterpart, the Shodaime Kazekage, a powerful ninja in his own right, brought his people to camp at the base of a large mesa, their traditional sanctuary.

For years this mesa had been their place of retreat when war or sandstorm threatened. However, his ninja told him that a sandstorm of incredible power was coming, one that could overwhelm even the mesa if precautions weren't taken.

"But no one knew what kind of precautions. How do you stop a sandstorm?" The genin and academies listened intently. Their travels had been interrupted several times as they had been forced to seek shelter from such storms, and they had already gained a healthy respect for their power. "The Kazekage stood with his trusted friends as they discussed the problem. Then he did something that changed everything."

The pause was devastating at this point. Naruto could feel the tension in the air surrounding the Genins and academies, as could the rest of the chuunin. Naruto glanced over at Sakura, and the two teammates traded a grin. She was a good story teller.

"He looked down, and saw a desert rat digging itself a hole in the hard sand. They say that the Kazekage nearly fell over laughing as the irony of the situation hit him. He was about to propose, effectively, that they all become rats." The giggles and chuckles swept over the group, as even the jounin joined in on the tension breaking qualities of laughter.

"Yet he turned to his people and said, 'In all our time, the desert's creatures have never mislead us. We will again take their advice, and dig ourselves a shelter.' The ninja of the village set to work with their jutsus, and shortly enough, their mesa had become a fortress of rock. The sandstorm swept over and around the mesa, but never inside of it."

Her story apparently finished, Temari turned to look at the veritable fortress that was looming ever closer. "We're close enough now to get the lead out." Temari declared, as she prepared to launch herself forward. Tsunade's hand fell to her shoulder. "The academy students can't keep that kind of pace for long."

Temari scowled at the Hokage. "Your academy is more lenient than I thought."

Her scowl was matched in its intensity by that of Shikamaru. "Our academy just started a new session three months ago. The vast majority of the academy students came with us, including the new students."

Realizing the implications, Temari sighed. "Walking it is, then. I'm amazed they made it this far if they're that new."

"Baa-chan." Tsunade turned at Naruto's oft-used nickname. "We can move faster than this."

Naruto saw the eyeroll coming even before it happened. "Were you listening just now at all?"

The jinchuuriki smirked. "Yeah, but you forgot something in that discussion."

"What?"

"Me, of course." A note of pride carried through Naruto's tone as he said this. Shikamaru smiled as he realized what Naruto was talking about, and nodded. "That would make sense. They've impressed even me so far, but they can't keep this up for much longer. I don't think we'll make the village before some of them begin to pass out."

Tsunade looked at the genius chuunin for a moment, before nodding to the blond. The powerhouse ninja nodded as he took up the necessary stance. Called the horse because of the similarity that it bears to a samurai on mount, with the legs spread shoulder width, bent at the knees, feet to the front, back as straight as possible. Naruto's index and middle fingers made the stylized cross handseal, molding the chakra necessary to perform the technique that he had often overutilized as a young genin.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." He declared, as he felt the chakra release from his body in rivulets. The streams of chakra hit the ground all around him, each one forming itself into a solid matter replication of the infamous prankster. Knowing precisely what they were there for, the Kage Bunshins moved amongst the genin and academies, each one picking up a student or young ninja and settling them onto their backs. Naruto picked up Konohamaru himself, before turning to Tsunade and nodding.

The Slug Sannin nodded, before raising her hand directly above her head, palm up, elbow at a fourty-five degree angle. Sweeping out from the shoulder, she brought the open palm around and forward, her arm extending to a full extension as it pointed in the direction of Sunagakure. The surrounding ninja recognized the signal for what it was, and nodded. In that instant, every Konoha ninja present focused as much chakra as they could possibly mold down to their feet, and lunged in the direction of Sunagakure.

They were nothing more than a river of blurs.

1

The guards on the rampart of Sunagakure had noticed the small army of incoming humanity twenty minutes previously. Unsure of the results of Sabaku no Temari's mission, they were understandably tense as their far-seers notified them that they bore the uniforms and forehead protectors of Konoha ninja.

Of course, the far-seers, with their infinitely sadistic sense of humor, neglected to mention that Temari was with them. Their ability, perfected over years of training the optic nerves to accept high levels of chakra to enhance their visual perceptions over long distances, required very specialized training. And is so usual in the ninja world, the student tended to receive qualities from their master. Universally, pulling-wings-off-the-sand-fly humor was a quality that passed from far-seer to far-seer. That and perversion on a degree surpassed only by the infamous Sannin Jiraiya. Many a far-seer wished that they could learn of the man's many legendary peeping techniques. With those, and their long-distance vision, imagine the peeping they could achieve. It was enough to induce nosebleeds.

The far-seer on duty, however, decided that it might be time to let them know who the approaching party was once they saw the ninjas begin to move at full speed, obviously intent on getting to the village as quick as possible now that they were on the harder sands. "I can see Sabaku no Temari among them, as well as the Godaime Hokage. They are friends."

The guard captain locked a glare onto the far-seer, before sighing. "Signal for the gate to be opened, and notify the Kazekage that his sister has returned." Turning to look at the oncoming swarm once again, he sighed, and turned to his lieutenant. "You know what to do. Get to it." The ninja bowed, before running along the ramparts. Hugging the curvature of the stone-carved pathway as they led him into the carved hallway that lead to the village proper, he quickly found himself looking out over the village itself. Bringing one foot up to the edge of the rampart, he quelled the reflexive, primal fear of what his animal instincts knew would be a fatal fall, and threw himself off over the edge. Crossing his arms, he threw them out again, channeling chakra into the garb that he wore, which took the chakra, and stiffened strategically placed parts of the material, turning his garb into a hang-glider. Using a shift in his shoulders to change his heading, he redirected himself for the jounin lounge, and moved his arms closer to his body. The reduction in surface area resulted in less wind holding him up, giving gravity the purchase it required to begin pulling him back down, increasing his speed as a result.

Inside the jounin lounge, Baki saw the incoming manglider. Reaching out lazily, he grabbed a thick rope, and gave it a sharp yank. A set of thick cushions dropped into place. He heard the muffled yell of thanks as the manglider tucked his arms in tight next to his body, chakra still channeled to keep the fabric stiff. The stiff fabric kept him from closing his arms completely, which would result in his falling like a stone from the loss of wind-based suspension. Yet the sudden increase in gravity's purchase allowed him incredible speed as he came in for a very abrupt landing on the thick cushions in the jounin lounge.

Baki shook his head at the manglider. He knew from his dealings with them that they tended to be adrenaline junkies of the highest order, but they were invaluable for their ability to quickly relay messages across the Wind Country. The abundant thermals of the country gave them more than enough lift to reach even the furthest parts of the country in times that made all but the fastest ninja look slow by comparison.

"Whew… been a while since I was sent here." The manglider's voice was muffled not only by the cushion, but the tight ball that he had rolled himself into to avoid injury upon landing. Unrolling himself, the man sat up, looking over at Baki. "Hey, Baki. Temari is back, and apparently its mission successful, cause she's got one hell of an entourage with her. Time to roll out the welcome mat." He said, as he flopped back onto the cushion.

A half-smile came to Baki's face before he turned away from the manglider, making his way over to the remaining jounin that the Kazekage had entrusted with this duty. He knew the man would make his way back to his post eventually, once the adrenaline from his previous flight no longer had him shaking.

1

Baki stood at the head of a half-dozen jounin in the square that the stone corridor dumped out into. Designed as a killzone during invasions, ninja who managed to make it through the gauntlet of the Stone Corridor would be faced with fresh ninja ready for close combat once they were dropped into this square. It also served as a reception area, both for ninja returning from missions and for other, less common situations. Such as the reception of a large number of high-ranking refugees such as those coming from Konoha.

Baki smiled as he saw Temari land in the square, the Konoha ninja following suite around her. He was slightly surprised when he saw hundreds of the same blond ninja manage to also land fluidly, each of them bearing a child or very young ninja on their backs. He knew the boy in front of him very well, having headed up the observation mission on the boy during his first trip into Suna territory, almost two and a half years ago. The boy had changed considerably since then. For one thing, his control had grown considerably since then, as he managed to disperse the chakra necessary to move at high speeds instantly, without the usual small hop that most ninja used to aid in its dispersal.

A small smile split his lips. It seemed that once again Gaara was correct. Konoha's council had no idea what kind of potential this boy had if they were only willing to dig for it. Not for the first time, he wondered if the villages hadn't become so drunk on the power of bloodlines that they ignored even greater strengths that could be achieved through the work of their members.

But that was for another time, Baki knew. At the moment, he had a missive to deliver, from one Kage to another. Finding the distinctive form of the Godaime Hokage amongst the ninja, Baki quickly made his way through the crowd, finally coming to kneel at the foot of the blond.

"The Kazekage sends a welcome, and asks to meet with you and your advisors immediately upon arrival." Baki, having delivered the message, motioned to the jounins. "These men will escort the rest of your people."

Tsunade watched the man carefully. A high-ranking jounin, she knew what little existed in his file by heart, as she did with the files of every other jounin on his par. "Escorted… where?"

Baki recognized the suspicion in the tone. It took very little time for him to realize its source, and he smiled almost ruefully. "To quarters that the Kazekage had prepared for your people. He wasn't sure what size group to expect, but he did the best that he could. Still, I don't know if there is enough space for this many." He said, giving an appraising glance to the entourage.

"The academy students can multi-bunk." She said, turning to look at Kakashi and Asuma. "You two will see to it that they're situated. Jiraiya, Shikamaru, you're with me. Sakura, Naruto, you two help make sure everyone else gets situated."

Baki's eyes met with the aspiring Hokage, and he shook his head. "Actually, the Kazekage has asked to meet with both Sakura and Naruto as well. I believe that he wants to thank them personally. He never did get the chance after your little encounter with Akatsuki."

Tsunade nodded at that, and turned to look at the two of them. "You heard him. You're with us. Raidou, Genma. You two are to see to settling everyone in." With assignments handed out, the ninja streamed out around the Hokage and her chosen escorts, following the lead of the Suna jounins.

As the river of humanity began to peter out, Tsunade nodded to Baki, indicating for him to take the lead. The jounin smiled, as he and Temari lead their visitors through the streets of Sunagakure.

Naruto hadn't really seen the village during his previous visit. With his attention focused on the sole goal of recovering Gaara from the Akatsuki, he didn't really notice much of it. He didn't really notice the way that the ground was covered in a fine layer of sand, or that underneath it was a layer of hard rock, matching the color of the surrounding barrier walls. He didn't really notice the construction of the buildings, how they were as smooth as running water, connected by levels of bridges running back and forth between them. He saw the ninja running across the bridges on missions of all kinds, and soon began to realize how few there really were. Although he didn't know the exact number of Konoha's forces, he was pretty sure that their group here, plus the group that presently occupied Tobihi outnumbered them by close to two-to-one.

Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, Naruto joined the others in front of the Kazekage. The redhead had redecorated the office since his father had held the post. His father, who had been so fond of the screen that hid him from those who came to report or receive missions, was to Gaara's mind embodied by that veil. It was the same way he had lived his life and dealt with his family. He could see them and decide on them, but they could not see or decide on him.

He would not let himself fall victim to this mentality, and with that in mind he had removed the veil. The display had been rather impressive, as his sand ripped the veil from the wall and compressed it into a small ball of metal bar and cloth. He had replaced it with a thick cushion, raised up above the level of visitors by a set of sandstone blocks. He sat in a half-lotus on this cushion, his eyes passionately analyzing his visitors as they walked into the room.

Tsunade smiled slightly as she saw the set-up. A large rug of the blue that symbolized the Kazekage covered the stones that undoubtedly held his seat above the cushions put out for them. The difference between their relative heights was the ultimate in psychological warfare, putting him at a distinct positional advantage above them. It was one hell of a way to remind them of the advantage he held over them.

She was therefore surprised when he stood up, and walked down to the bottommost step, and took up a seat, putting himself on par with them. Looking at Naruto, the Kazekage felt a smile tug at the side of his lips. Allowing it to pull a little, he saw the jinchuuriki's eyes widen at the sight of Sabaku no Gaara smiling.

Once Naruto recovered from the shock, notably faster than those around him, he took the time to take in Gaara's features. The redhead looked considerably better than he did when Naruto last saw him. Dying had this little effect of making people look less than their best. So did lack of sleep, and it was amazing to Naruto how much healthier Gaara looked, now that he could sleep without fear for his mind.

"Thank you." The Kazekage said to the blond. "Both from myself, and from my village. Without your aid, they would have been down another Kazekage. Now, to business." He said, turning his gaze to meet Tsunade. "This Danzou is a presumptuous man. He has already sent me a letter." Gaara held out a hand, and a tendril of sand brought it over to him. Naruto noted that there was a slight strain to Gaara's face, as the kanji on his brow let off a soft light. Although he could still control the sand, it seemed to take more energy than he was used to. Perhaps, with the loss of the Shukaku to provide the chakra to power the sand, he needed to improve his chakra capacity to be able to use it as well as he could before.

Unfolding the letter, Gaara began to read. "To the esteemed, if youthful, Kazekage." Gaara's sand swirled up behind his head, forming into a pair of crude hands, making sarcastic quoting motions in around esteemed and youthful. "I trust that by this point in time, that spying sister of yours has notified you of the changing of the guard in Konoha." the sand formed into a noose, dangling a featureless body. "I accept her actions as those of a shinobi, but I must notify you that if she is caught here again, she will be killed. I must also demand that, if any member of the previous Konoha government should come to seek refuge at your village, you turn them over to me as soon as possible." Gaara folded the letter, before spitting on it, and tossing it aside.

"The rest of the thing just patters on about how he is treating our alliance as a peace treaty, and nothing more. Gaara shook his head. "He is not fitting to be a Kage, much less the Hokage. Of all the Konoha shinobi I have met, I know of only a few whom I would be willing to even acknowledge as Rokudaime. This Danzou is not one of them."

Gaara smirked as two more letters were born forward by his sand. Naruto noted the drop of sweat that ran down his face. "These are from the Raikage… and Otokage. The Raikage hopes that the new Hokage will be more willing to agree to 'fair' terms. The Otokage says that this changes nothing."

The two letters fell as the sand drew away from them. "For my part. I personally stand with the Godaime Hokage and her people. This man is not the Rokudaime Hokage. He is the Shodaime Masshakage."

Naruto couldn't manage to suppress a snicker at that. Sakura, Tsunade, Jiraiya and Shikamaru joined him with smiles and chuckles. "I can just see his face when he sees that." Tsunade said. She, and the rest of her entourage had taken places on the cushions, and she herself had adopted the same lotus-styled posture Gaara had used. Leaning forward, she balanced her elbows on her knees, and looked directly at Gaara. "None the less, we need to make a decision of what to do. Allies though we may be, I have no intention of just letting that man have my village."

Gaara nodded. "Agreed. We must come up with a plan. Shadow-user." Gaara said, looking at Shikamaru. "You are the most qualified present." The Nara mumbled something resembling 'very troublesome,' before he adopted his thinking posture.

Naruto was examing the office from his cushion. Unlike the Kazekage and Tsunade, he sat in a deceptively relaxed posture, something he had picked up from Gai. Called a 'ready' stance the legs were kept bent at the knees, held at just past a right angle to one another. The edge of one foot was flat to the floor, with the sole of the other foot flat on the floor near by. The dominant arm, in his case the right, was left draped on top of the standing leg, which would be the leg of his dominant side. His left arm, the less dominant, was used to prop up the upper body, giving the stance its dangerously deceptive relaxed pose. In a moment, he could easily roll to either side, drop his head or upper torso out of attack range, block or grab with his right hand, or use his legs to grasp an opponent and prevent them from using their arms or from fleeing.

His examination of the room brought his eyes to rest on the photo of a man whom he presumed was the present Daimyo, as he was the only person in a photo to have neither a ninja's headband, or the Kazekage insignia somewhere on the photo's frame.

Shikamaru sighed. "Its troublesome, but whatever plan we use, we need to enact it within the next year. If we wait any longer than that, Danzou will be able to graduate a class of genin as big as he likes, and then he'll have the ability to churn out so many ninja to use as living shields, we'll never stop him.

"The first thing we need to do before we attack is try to convince the Wind Daimyo to stop sending so many missions to Konoha. By doing this, we'll cut of at least some of the funds Konoha gets, which will leave Danzou with less money to use in a battle against us. If we can convince the Fire Daimyo, we might be able to seriously hamper his ability to fund his operations. This will also limit his ability to train genin to throw in front of us."

Naruto couldn't quite suppress the horrified expression. How could someone conceive of doing that? Tsunade noted the expression on his face, and knew that it matched her own feelings. "The Fire Daimyo won't be too difficult. Naruto made a good impression during his previous mission for the Daimyo."

Naruto felt something nibbling at his memory. The Shogun had sent escorts for the Daimyo's and he remembered what the others had said that meant for ninja relations. "What about the Shogun?"

Shikamaru thought on it for a moment, his expression growing grim. "If he decides to take action, it might very well turn out that he decides to flatten Konoha. He might use the village as an example. Tsunade-sama…" Shikamaru trailed off.

She looked over at Jiraiya, and the two Sennin nodded. "We'll deal with this personally. Gaara, as of this moment, I'm officially putting all of my ninja on extended loan to Sunagakure. Hatake Kakashi is being declared Hoseisan as of this moment, and will be your intermediary when necessary."

1

1

Beginning now, I'm going to start throwing definitions of all Japanese terms at the end, as I obviously tend to use them quite often. I will start by defining those from chapter 25 as well

Honoo – Flame

Hanran – Rebellion

Tobihi – loose definition would be sparks flying from a fire

Massha – Jester (Ergo, the Masshakage would be the Jester Shadow)

Seisan – adjective describing ghostly qualities. Hoseisan is a title that will elaborated upon in the next chapter.


	27. Fluffing a Library

AN: This is a quick plug. I'm presently in the planning stages of another Naruto fic, centered around Team 7 being assigned their own genin teams. I know this to be a clichéd concept at this point, but I hope that I can bring to it a different twist or three. I have the basic team set-ups in mind, but I still have to create the underlying personalities, strengths, and weaknesses of 9 genin. I'm far too lazy to do this. So I would like to ask my reviewers to throw me some ideas. I need a field they excel in of those shown in the anime/manga (chakra control, tai/nin/genjutsu, academics, tactics, stealth, weapon combat, etc.) Original ideas that have not graced this field before will win brownie points, and will be almost guaranteed a slot.

I would like to emphasize that, as important as originality is, consistency is also important. Thus, I would prefer that ninjas who come from clans come from those that are in Konoha according to the manga. For example, as Haku's ice manipulation has already been pointed out as the result of a bloodline, and furthermore he died before siring a child, he could not possibly have a relative on a genin team, being that he was the last known member of his clan. First generation ninja are encouraged, as are ninja who have personality quirks that we haven't seen. Perverts will not be accepted (they're overplayed). New bloodlines will not be accepted.

The aid of my reviewers is, once again, most welcome. Although I might decide to mix and match qualities proposed to make the characters interesting in my eyes, I will cite the reviewers who left the reviews that stated these ideas that I borrow.

As a bit of incentive, those whose ideas I decide to take will be given Hatake Kakashi, or the Naruto character of their choice, in tight leather pants/one piece (where appropriate)… and nothing else.

Kakashi: Now hold on a minute.

This chapter is a short, transitional piece that will lead up to a couple of… interesting missions/events to come.

Chapter 27: Fluffing a Library

Jiraiya and Tsunade's decision to visit the Shogun personally had them leaving the village within a week of their arrival, set upon reaching the Shogun within three days. By the time that they had left, there still was not any word from the Tsuchikage in regards to Konoha's 'new management'. By the time that the newly appointed Hoseisan took over his duties, tensions had begun to rise, with the thought that maybe, in spite of all they had done, their mission would end up a failure. Danzou's take-over left an unexpected hole in the agreement, as the new leader, who took over through force rather than by the normal procedures, was not obliged to uphold the agreements made by the previous Hokages.

It soon became clear, however, that this was the least of the worries that the Konoha refugees would face in Suna. Three weeks after their exile became official, a messenger arrived from the Wind Daimyo. Addressed to the Kazekage, the message notified the Kazekage that his Daimyo would soon be visiting, and that he'd best prepare a welcome for him.

1

Library's have a universal tendency to being sedate places. Quite, organized, unassuming, filled to the brim with books and bibliophiles, their neatly compiled tables and manuscripts were frequented usually only by the more academic shinobi. This description fit Sakura perfectly, and it was no surprise to anyone who knew her that she had spent large portions of time in Konoha's Ninja library during her days as an academy student, studying up on everything she could possibly get her hands on with the limited access her rank provided her.

Her appointment to Team Seven changed much of that. She found very little time or interest in heading to the tome-filled building. At first, her absence was attributed to being disgruntled over the nature of the D-ranked missions. Years of training as a shinobi does not prepare for pulling weeds and retrieving cats, and it is this unexpected aspect of shinobi life that often turns many away from the ninja library.

Wave country changed that. Suddenly, it was no longer because she was disappointed. Rather, in large part it was because she had no time. Constant missions and training for chuunin exams kept her too busy. And then of course, came the stunning realization that all the theory in the world does not prepare for real experience, which she had acquired a healthy dose of during the battle for Wave Country's bridge.

So it was with some trepidation that she found herself in Sunagakure's ninja library. The chuunin on desk duty had given her an odd look before recognizing her as the Hokage's apprentice, but had said nothing to the effect that Sakura should not be here, or should avoid a given section.

In fact, it was her status as the Hokage's apprentice that brought her here. She knew for a fact that, as the Hokage's apprentice, her skills were likely to be well documented in Danzou's files. And Sakura, as a professional ninja, had this little thing about being well-documented. It drove her freaking insane that her enemies would know everything about her. Thus she had decided to take a leaf out of Naruto's book, and acquire a few new jutsus. After all, nothing works better in combat than an unexpected surprise or three.

Of course, the problem with this idea was determining what she should work on. Her medic-nin capabilities were as developed as they would get without Tsunade or Shizune's presence. Her taijutsu was effective all things considered, although she would be the first to admit that it needed work. But then again, taijutsu wasn't something you could work on in a library.

With Ijutsu (medical) and taijutsu out as possible areas for improvement, Sakura was left with ninjutsu and genjutsu as viable options. Both were things she could at least study up on in the library in the event she couldn't borrow the scrolls, which she could not really see as being a problem. This left Sakura with the problem of which field to focus her attention on.

Ninjutsu were devastating techniques. That much any ninja knew, and Sakura knew it better than most, with both Sasuke and Naruto being powerful ninjutsuists However, ninjutsus were notoriously chakra-hungry, even with perfect chakra control. The amount of energy necessary to mould chakra's form into anything but basic D or C ranked techniques was something Sakura wasn't sure she could afford to use in battle. After all, she was still a medic-nin, and thus had to maintain a certain amount of chakra in reserve for ijutsu. Maybe with time, when her chakra capacity had developed more, she would be able to utilize more advanced ninjutsu, but not now.

That obviously left her with genjutsu. Yet genjutsu was an area that Sakura had precious little experience with. She'd never even seen an effective genjutsuist in action before. In fact, the only time she'd seen it used in a battle was when Itachi had dropped one on Naruto during their last mission to the Sand.

Sighing, she made her way back through the library, absentmindedly searching for the section dedicated to genjutsus. It was on her way passed the history section that she saw the 8th sign of the apocalypse. Uzumaki Naruto was quietly sitting, reading a book. A big book. And from what Sakura saw, it had no pictures, nor jutsus.

She very quietly withdrew from the library. And ran to the Konoha Ninja Camp.

Now, one must understand that the name 'Camp' was a little misleading in this case. Gaara had, upon hearing that his allies had been booted out of Konoha, had sent for an area to be prepared for them. The result was that a former, rundown military complex suddenly found itself under the intense examination of half a dozen jounin, with specific orders to make it livable for a large force of shinobi, several of them extremely important. These plans had not originally included barracks style living quarters, but it hadn't taken more than an hour of work out of the genins to set up such quarters.

Sakura had been avoiding the complex as best as possible since then. Hanabi Hyuuga had been complaining most bitterly about the arrangements, and Sakura was getting sick of listening to it, in all honesty. She knew that Kakashi was as well, but as Hoseisan, he kind of had to.

Hoseisan. Sakura had been a little surprised when Tsunade had made that declaration that she hadn't heard the term before. As best as she could understand, it basically marked Kakashi as one of Tsunade's chosen lieutenants that she would leave in charge in the event that she was called away on important missions. Effectively this meant that both Shizune and Kakashi bore the post, although Sakura couldn't remember Tsunade having made any such official decleration of the post for Shizune.

Sakura's thoughts carried her through the entrance to the complex, into a room that had become a make-shift lounge area. She immediately found Shikamaru and Temari relaxing. Well, Shikamaru was relaxing. Temari was slinging barbs at him every now and then as she reclined in a chair, taking advantage of her present lack of a mission.

Joining the two in the makeshift seating arrangement of cushions and wooden crates, Sakura shook her head slightly. "You will not believe what I just saw in the library."

Shikamaru sighed. "You'll tell us anyways… troublesome."

"Naruto… reading… and not on jutsus."

Shikamaru looked over at Sakura, shock overriding laziness for once. After all, this had to mean that the end of the world was getting closer. Right?

1

As Hoseisan, Kakashi knew that his job in the absence of Tsunade was to look after the well-being of all of the Konoha ninja present in their 'camp'. He had, however, decided that this did not override his responsibilities as a cell captain, and he furthermore had concluded that, given their already obvious skill, ignoring the members of the oft-called 'rookie nine' who were present would be foolish.

He was thus disturbed, amused, and worried by what he had heard the group discussing in the lounge. He knew that gossip was going to happen, it was inevitable whenever large numbers of ninja were forced into somewhat extended downtimes. That wasn't his problem as long as nothing too big was revealed.

No, the disturbing thing was Naruto reading a book, that wasn't about jutsus. He had to agree with his female student. It was an apocalypse sign. The end was coming… He'd have to make sure he made plans for preserving his Icha Icha collection.

The amusing part was the plans the chuunin were compiling to discover what Naruto was reading. Overly complex, requiring multiple steps and several deceptions, it was the kind of thing that ninja did when they were bored. Well, except for the Nara boy, but even he seemed to have become dragged along in this planning.

The worrying part, which was what he actually cared about at the moment, was that this sort of behavior was usually seen in ninja more advanced than chuunins. Temari he could understand it from. As a high-level jounin, probably only a couple tiers down from himself, she had more than enough combat experience to become jittery when she didn't have some mission to accomplish or training she could partake of.

Sakura he could understand. Trained by a Sannin, as Naruto had been, her experience and skill-level was above that of her friends and cohorts in these plans. Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji's willingness, almost eagerness to participate came as a surprise, though. He would have expected that Shikamaru would have simply proposed asking, but the Nara boy hadn't even thought of the most simple option.

Maybe it was time that he began getting these kids out of the complex for some training. Before the restless energy caused Naruto to begin pranking.

God help him if he let it get that far, Kakashi's silent request went, as expected, unanswered.


	28. Daimyo

AN: Naruto pranking… Done

Chapter 28: Daimyo

Shikamaru was firmly of the opinion that this plan was troublesome. He wasn't at all sure how he had let himself be convinced to do this.

Oh yeah, Temari leaned in at just the right angle… hard to think when blood's going the wrong way, even if you are a genius. Still, that had left him walking through the library of Suna, wandering in the general direction of the History section. It didn't take too long to spot the bright orange and black outfit of Konoha's most surprising ninja. Realizing that Sakura wasn't kidding when she claimed he was reading something other than a jutsu scroll, Shikamaru had to suppress the strange urge to go run laps in one of Rock Lee's green suits. He was fairly certain that was the next sign of the apocalypse and he didn't want the world to end quite yet…

Walking by, he surreptitiously glanced at the book in front of Naruto, catching a glance of the title that was emblazoned across the top of the page, as well as the page number. With that information firmly in mind, he strolled away.

Naruto looked up at his friend's retreating back, wondering for a moment why he didn't just ask.

1

For the second time in three weeks, the Stone Corridor bore witness to the passing of a large delegation into Sunagakure proper. This second one, however, was far more ornate in its appearance. For the vast majority of this caravan was the Wind Daimyo's entourage, and his honor guard.

At its heart, a man sat on a large wooden platform, suspended between multiple beasts of burden. His blue silk kimono hid layers that were more striated than the high rock walls of Sunagakure's barrier.

In other words, he had one hell of a lot of bounces per inch.

Gaara was always slightly disgusted every time he saw the man. The gluttony and neglect that his form implied made his innards twist, as he wondered how any responsible leader could pamper himself so, as opposed to aiding his people.

It made him sick, quite honestly.

The man's escort consisted of more than a dozen samurai in highly polished blue armor. Gaara could easily see the rivers of sweat that poured down each man's face and neck as they came to a halt in the center of the square and, with perfect coordination, dropped to one knee, their chins dropping to their chests as the Daimyo's platform was lowered to the ground. The men's armors were studded across the shoulders with sapphires, and Gaara could make out more sapphires built into the hilts of each of their dual katanas. The men were without facemasks to their helmets, but the crescent moon designs on top of their helms were as uniform as the rest of their armor. He was willing to bet that their facemasks would be equally repetitious.

"Gaara m'boy. We've got to talk about these refugees of yours." Wheezed the Daimyo, as he moved towards Gaara. The Kazekage wasn't quite willing to dignify the movement with even the term of waddling. Rather, it was like watching an Akimichi expand their body, and then try to perform ballet. Except Gaara had the feeling the Akimichi would be far more graceful with their ballet attempt.

"Do we now?" Gaara's eye twitched ever so slightly at the Daimyo's statement. The shinobi who were arrayed behind him as his own entourage saw the motion, and nervously stepped back, more from habit than anything else; it was still a wise idea to be very wary of their leader's combat abilities. After all, the sands were his weapons; and that is a nasty thing to have used against you in the desert.

"Yes. Don't want to risk another war with Konoha and the Fire Country. Need to talk over what this new Hokage's demands are." The Daimyo declared, walking past Gaara. "Perhaps over some sake."

Gaara just barely managed to keep himself from snorting in amusement. The man's ego was possibly the only thing bigger than his body. "Perhaps." Gesturing towards one of his shinobi, he ordered the Daimyo escorted to his office, while he convinced himself of all the reasons not to kill the man.

2

Temari looked up as Shikamaru slouched into the chair next to her, careful to not reveal the contents of her hand to Sakura and Ino. The shadow user glanced over at her, and sighed for a moment.

"It was troublesome to find out, but it's a history book." Shikamaru said, "Paths of the Shadow." Temari tensed slightly at the title. She was familiar with it.

It was Gaara's favorite title.

3

"So this Danzou wants all of the refugees sent to him." The Daimyo asked. Gaara nodded.

"Well then, lets do it m'boy. They're just straining our economy here." The Daimyo said, smacking his lips together as he brought a cup of sake to his mouth. "Unless they're gonna run missions, get them outta here."

Gaara restrained the growl that he felt building in his throat. "With all due respect, how I run this village is my concern. The vast majority of Konoha's refugees are genin and academy students. I will not send them back to be executed."

The Daimyo frowned. "The Daimyo's are moving in response to this, m'boy. It would take a fool to see that this problem in Konoha is going to change the balance of power. Kumo or Iwa might just decide to get uppity. Until we know bout them, m'boy… Keep the option open." With that, the man-blimp stood, and made his way out of Gaara's office.

"Otherwise m'boy… might just have to start sending missions to another village."

4

Paths of the Shadow: The Rise of the Five Great Nations, and their Kages. It was a book Temari was very familiar with. After Gaara's initial defeat at the hands of Naruto, he had taken to reading as an attempt to find a new purpose in life. She wasn't entirely certain what drove him to books for a new purpose. As a shinobi she had always written literature off as something for academics and the children of the merchant class.

For months, Gaara had devoured book after book in the library, even as the village council hemmed and hawed, deliberating over who would succeed as the Kazekage. Konoha and Kiri held the distinction of being the only two villages that maintained a category of ninja who had proven themselves so definitively in the skills of their villages that they were considered worthy of Kageship. In Konoha, this short list category was often equated with the most recent representatives, the Sannin. According to what she had heard from Gaara, however, they were more appropriately known as the Ekiseijin. In Kiri, it was the Shinobigatana Nananin.

Everywhere else, the Kage would either nominate a successor before he retired, or failing that, the council would chose one upon the Kage's passing. With the politics involved in the decision, it had taken over half a year before the council finally came up with a short list, forget actual nominations. By that time, Gaara had found the very book Naruto was now reading.

Temari didn't know precisely what in the book had made such an impression upon Gaara. Maybe it was the book combined with something else, like Naruto's attitude and perseverance for a village that hated him. She had to admit, the little squirt's drive was impressive even to her, and she didn't have the similarities of experience that Gaara shared with the boy. Whatever it was in the book that got to him, however, it lit a fire in him that she hadn't ever seen before.

He was driven, passionate, and completely focused after that book. And when he walked into the council chamber, and asked to be considered for the post of Kazekage, the shinobi half of the council took one look at the expression on Gaara's face, and knew they were looking at their next commander in chief.

5

The Kazekage looked up as Kakashi stepped through the door. Although he knew the man to be a pervert, he had to admit that he was a capable ninja. Nonetheless, Gaara slid his copy of the little orange book a little further under his meditative cushion. Keeping up appearances and all.

"Lord Kazekage." Kakashi said, as he bowed at the foot of the stone steps. Gaara motioned him towards the cushions. "I have a request."

Gaara's eyebrows raised slightly. "Really?"

"Yes. Honestly, its multi-faceted, but it is a request. I have recently discovered signs among my ninja that Jounin Anxiety is beginning to settle in."

Gaara's eyebrows did an about face at that declaration. Although there was a clinical term for the situation, Gaara was not familiar with it. He was familiar, however, with the tendency to turn the excess levels of energy ninja possess onto other tasks. In some cases, it could be harmless, such as Tsuande's tendency towards gambling, and Jiraiya's frequent brothel visits. In other cases, such as when it turned to politics or internal affairs, it could become excessively bad. In such cases the results often were coup attempts or clan wars.

"Interestingly enough, it's showing amongst the chuunins from your first visit to Konoha." Kakashi said, tacitly avoiding bringing up the cause of that first visit. "I was going to request a couple of missions for my people if possible, or some assistance in training them. None of my older ninja have experience in what training forms actually work in the desert."

Gaara nodded, seeing immediately where Kakashi was going with this. "Baki will be sent to assist you in that department. I will see about some tutors for the younger ninja, so that the academy students can avoid falling too far behind."

Kakashi nodded in thanks. "We might want to see about getting Naruto to work especially quickly. If he suddenly finds a need to unload excess energy…" A loud ruckus caught the ear of both ninja. Looking out the window, Kakashi shook his head.

"Too late." He muttered, as Gaara's jaw very nearly unhinged itself.

For on the internal wall of Suna, half a dozen Naruto clones had just painted a mural. In it, Kakashi stood slouching, book in one hand, while Asuma stood opposite him, idly smoking away. And between them; Gai and Lee having one of their more… interesting moments.

"Baki will be with you before the hour is done." Gaara managed to find his voice long enough to say that. He had never again wanted to see two grown men doing that in his life. Seeing it in person once was enough. Gaara would have to take his own eyes out with the sand now.


	29. Stone Sealed Missive

AN: hopefully my attempts at filler have been better than the anime's. Unfortunately, they're going to continue a bit more, but I'm starting the ramp up for the next big action sequence, which will be far more… interesting than the last one.

Chapter 29: Stone Sealed Missive

Gaara stared at the wall opposite his office window. The first thing he had done for the Konoha ninja was for half a dozen D-class missions to be sent their genin's way. The job; take off that damned mural. He had to admit, it was coming along nicely; apparently Naruto had thought to use paint that be easily removed. It was obvious to Gaara the boy had done this before.

He shuddered again at the thought of The Mural and its main subjects. The image made for incredible psychological warfare. Imagine, dropping audio recordings of those two behind enemy lines. It would be enough to drive anyone mad.

The screams… the screams that resulted from green spandex-clad forms making impossible promises. Gaara shuddered again. And then screeched.

He paused at that. It was a particularly high pitched screech, with a note, an edge that seemed to mark it as having come from the mouth of a bird of prey, with their hooked beaks. That made Gaara think that it wasn't his screech.

Besides, Sabaku no Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage, does not screech… Ever.

Turning, he saw that, indeed, a hawk was being carried into his office on the gloved arm of one of the chuunin on messenger duty. Looking at its leg, Gaara saw the seal that was emblazoned on its missive.

The Seal of Iwagakure.

1

"Really, my team is pretty much set in terms of their training regimens." Asuma said, leaning back in his chair. The statement could have come off as conceited if it weren't for the intense grilling he had given Baki for the past fifteen minutes on training methods for the brutal deserts of Suna. Everything from chakra capacity to control to types of physical training schedules. "What about you, Kakashi?"

The Copy Ninja's one visible eye closed, apparently in thought. "I have no clue."

Asuma turned, facing not just his head, but his entire upper body towards the infamous Konoha ninja. "You were their jounin sensei. You mean in all that time, you never once thought to pay any attention to their training?"

Baki watched the Konoha ninjas impassively. He had to admit, though, he wasn't too impressed with the famous Copy Ninja Kakashi's abilities as a teacher either, if this were true.

Kakashi sighed. "Honestly, I think I was too wrapped up in paying back a debt."

"Obito, right?" Rin's voice came from the doorway. Looking up, the three ninja saw the young woman make her way into the room, a small tray of drinks and snacks in her hands.

Kakashi's face gave away no clues to either Asuma or Baki. "Thought so." Rin said, as she sat down with the trio of ninja, careful of the leg that had been broken up until about a month ago. "He wouldn't have wanted you to ignore your other students, Kakashi. You know that, right?"

The silver haired jounin nodded. "I am aware. I also have a fairly good idea of their strengths and weaknesses." He sighed, and leaned forward. "Unfortunately, I can't much help them on their strengths, and their present sensei's have done a good job with improving on most of their weaknesses."

Asuma sighed, as he watched the smoke trail out of the cigarette end. "So what's their strengths?"

Kakashi looked over at the other jounin. Not one ninja in the room missed the intent of the question. If Kakashi wanted to win back any sort of respect from his compatriots, he would have to prove to them that he did know something about his former students, things that their teacher should know; that Kakashi should have helped with the first time.

"Sakura has almost perfect chakra control, along with an almost perfect knowledge of the theoretical aspects of the ninja profession. Her variety of jutsus was always fairly weak, as was her hand-to-hand combat abilities. She did, however, demonstrate impressive potential as a genjutsu type during the finals of that Chuunin exam."

Baki's face didn't even twitch at the reference. "How so?"

"She detected and dispelled the sleeping genjutsu." Kakashi's matter of fact statement left no doubt about its validity. That caused Baki's eyes to widen slightly. It was a high level jutsu, and for a genin who didn't even make the finals to discern it, and dispel it was impressive. "Above and beyond that, her dedication and self confidence have always been weak points, possibly due to the perception of being worthless in comparison to her teammates."

"Recently, her jutsu base has improved dramatically through her training with Tsunade. Learning medical jutsu has given her both a sense of worth in the team, and she now has a quite deadly arsenal of abilities if her opponents get within hand distance. She's also acquired Tsunade's strength technique, which makes her absolutely deadly in hand-to-hand combat. Her ability at some of the basic practical aspects of being a ninja, such as the combative uses of basic jutsus, as well as her chakra capacity are still problems for her, however."

"Naruto, on the other hand, has an almost absurd chakra capacity. So much that he can't parcel it down to bunshin counts smaller than 15." This was no surprise to Asuma and Baki, who had seen the boy in action, and knew his abilities. Rin was another story, and she mentally chalked it up as one more thing to grill Kakashi about when she finally got things calmed down and she could confront him.

"He has fairly impressive chakra control in spite of Kyuubi and the unwieldy amoung of chakra he possesses. The last time he fought Sasuke in an actual battle, at least two thirds of the conflict was held while water walking." That got Asuma and Baki's attention. "Because of this and his high chakra capacity, he's obviously the ideal ninjutsu type, and he has a particular strength for jutsus that use fairly large portions of chakra. His Rasengan, for example, is a chakra beast, and actually requires more in terms of raw amounts than my Chidori." Rin watched her teammate now in pure shock. The boy knew RASENGAN?

The Copy Ninja noted the expression from the corner of his… eye. "Jiraiya taught it to him several years ago. Apparently he learned it within month." He suppressed a chuckle as Rin's eyes came dangerously close to becoming transplant material through falling out of her head.

"When he came back from his trip with Jiraiya, he displayed another, little-known talent. He has incredible ability at creating variations on ninjutsus. During his time away, he constructed a variation on the Rasengan that is bigger than a man's head. This demonstrates not only an incredible ability with ninjutsu in general, and a strong grasp on the theory behind ninjutsus.

"He's incredibly proficient with basic jutsus in battle. Really, his weak points come from intellectual aspects and the occasional failures of chakra control due to Kyuubi. He overattaches in battle, leaving him vulnerable to emotional manipulation and failures in judgment. Again, both of these are things that are far less pronounced than they were before, partly due to Jiraiya's training." He paused a moment, taking a long sip from the glass of juice that Rin had brought, and smiled at her with his visible eye. Asuma was amazed that he somehow managed to sip without visibly moving his mask.

"Really, Sakura's the easy one. I can help her some with the principles behind Genjutsu, and she'll be able to develop some of her own very rapidly. With Naruto, I'm lost."

The quadruplet settled in to think. The two did offer a challenge in terms of training. After all, in a way it was asking them to improve on two and a half years of personal, hand crafted training to the hand-picked apprentice of the Ekiseijin Jiraiya.

Finally, Rin snorted. "Well, I presume he knows form and element manipulation, and that's all I know of ninjutsu training."

Kakashi's visible eye widened. "I think he's taught himself how to use a couple of fire jutsus… but beyond that he's never been taught element manipulation." The copy ninja cursed under his breath. That was stupid of him.

Asuma's expression was either stunned or stricken, it was too even a mixture to really classify it as one or the other. "Kakashi, how in the world did you…"

"Because the last time I really had to train him was during the month before the chuunin exam finals; and at that time I figured that chakra control would help him the most, so I handed him over to Ebisu."

Asuma frowned. In actuality, it wasn't a bad decision. Strong enough chakra control to water walk was an absolute necessity before learning element manipulation, and Ebisu was a master of chakra control. That he'd never had the chance since then to train him or Sakura, however…

"How busy were you after the exam?"

Kakashi sighed. "I was running at least 2 S-class missions a week. I had just come back from one when Sasuke deserted."

Asuma coughed. No wonder he hadn't had time to train them after the exam. Usually it was required that a ninja take a week's paid leave after completion of an S-rank mission. Baki and Rin's expressions matched that of Asuma.

"So element manipulation it is, then. If he's got that high a chakra capacity, he should be pretty devastating once he really gets a solid grasp on form and element manipulation, and how they work." Rin said, shaking off her surprise.

Kakashi nodded. "Baki, how do you test for elemental alignment here?"

The jounin smiled. "I'll get the test ready now."

2

Kakashi found Naruto exactly where Sakura and her conspirators had originally spotted him, near the history section, reading a largish book. Suppressing the urge to run screaming, he walked over to the blond, and set a hand on his shoulder.

"Gaara was very impressed with your handiwork. Thanks for the help."

Naruto smiled up at his sensei. "So it worked, then?"

"Yep. In fact, we're going to get started on your training right away. Come on."


	30. So Much to Do

Chapter 30: So Much to Do

"So, where are we going for this training?" Naruto asked Kakashi, as he stood with his hands clasped behind his head. The Copy Ninja looked down at the blond bundle of energy, not entirely certain how to answer the question but knowing what he had to admit to.

"I'm not entirely certain." He said, waiting with well-masked impatience for Baki to show up. The Sand Jounin was kind of a big deal in relation to the training for the Konoha chuunin's, Naruto in particular at this moment, and his absence was unnerving.

"That's a new one." Naruto said, glancing at his teacher from the corner of his eye. "Late, yes. Unsure of what we're doing, no. Where's Kakashi?" The jounin smirked at the question, but was saved from answering as Baki appeared before the two of them. Motioning for them to follow, he wordlessly bounded of towards the outskirts of Sunagakure. Glancing at one another, they shrugged, before taking off after the jounin.

Shortly enough, they arrived at the edge of the village of Sunagakure. Naruto knew from his previous exploration, undertaken as intelligence gathering for his mural prank, that the village ended well before the walls along the back half. This open area was what constituted the training grounds of Suna, and many of them consisted, at least in part, of buildings that had been damaged or had fallen into disrepair.

It was on the broken down wall of one of these buildings that Baki sat. Looking at the jounin in confusion, Naruto watched as their guide collapsed into a pile of sand at a nod from the seated jounin. His unspoken question answered, Naruto turned his attention to the Suna jounin. He had to admit, he had never seen a jounin with such odd equipment before, and that included Gaara, Kankuro and Temari in his analysis.

The man had a small burlap sack sitting on the hard-packed sand next to the wall, formless enough that Naruto had absolutely no clue as to what its contents could be. That wasn't the truly odd part, however. The truly odd thing was what looked to be a wooden box of some sort. Unsure of what, precisely the box was for; Naruto continued to cautiously come closer to the jounin. Wood was a precious commodity in the desert, even Naruto knew that, so whatever the box was, it had to be important.

Finally, the jounin carefully came down from his perch on the wall. For the first time, Naruto could see the six partitioned sections of glass that were set into the box. The central panel was circular, about the size of a particularly large hand. The five remaining panels radiated out from it, each taking up approximately one fifth of the remaining area in the box.

Truthfully, Naruto had no clue as to what the point of the arrangement was. "Kakashi, no offense, but what good is an over-glorified mirror gonna do me?"

Kakashi burst out laughing. Baki shook his head, and kneeling to the ground, gently set down the box. Naruto noted off-handedly that the colors resembled, in some strange way, those of the Kitsune's wacky alignment thing. Of course, there were colors missing, and those that were present were out of place, but all in all, it had some similarities.

"We're going to test your elemental alignment." Kakashi said, taking a seat next to the box, motioning for Naruto to do the same.

1

Gaara looked up from the letter as the door to his office opened. Wordlessly he watched as Tsuande and Jiraiya walked into the office, two of his own jounins standing behind them. He noted the scroll in Tsuande's hand, smaller and more tightly wound than those used between Kage's as a message. Noting the lack of seal, or even the remnants of where one had been removed, he noted that this was not, in fact, a missive from the Tsuchikage such as the one he held. A motion of his chin sent the two jounins from the office; as he settled down on the bottom step of his platform, motioning for his guests to seat themselves.

"Well?" He asked, setting the scroll down next to himself for the moment.

"The Shogun has agreed to keep himself and his people out of this war, provided that the conflict remain restricted to the ninja villages. If it doesn't, he has said that he will take whatever action he feels appropriate."

Gaara nodded. It wasn't really all that unexpected, considering the circumstances. He had probably been practically begging Kami for a reason not to get involved in this conflict. "The Wind Daimyo all but demanded you be turned over to Danzou. He fears a resumption of hostilities with Konoha." The Kazekage snorted. "That is, of course, unless the Tsuchikage held off." He tossed the letter to Tsunade. "Read."

Tsunade nodded as well. "You might as well read this, then. You're at war with Sound, just like we are." She tossed him her scroll. "It was acquired for us by Uzumaki Naruto, from one Uchiha Sasuke."

Gaara nodded, as he unrolled the scroll. His eyes quickly scanned over it, before widening in surprise. Rereading it twice to make sure he hadn't read wrong, and using several Genjutsu counters to be absolutely certain it wasn't a prank of some sort, he chuckled.

"Well, that changes things even more, doesn't it?" Gaara asked calmly. Tsunade nodded, as she finished rerereading the scroll in her hands.

"Yes, it does."

"Now the only question is, will four months be enough training time to challenge Otogakure?"

2

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto demanded, as he took a seat next to the jounins.

"You remember when you asked me to teach you the Chidori?" Kakashi asked, knowing the answer before he asked it. The boy had the grace to blush, remembering how he had, to be more accurate, practically demanded that he be taught his first sensei's greatest technique.

"Yeah…"

"I knew at the time you wouldn't be able to use it. And that was partially because you didn't know how to use elemental manipulation."

"You haven't answered the boy's question yet, Kakashi." Baki muttered, frowning at the Konoha jounin.

The Copy Ninja frowned. "You know what, just watch." Naruto nodded as his teacher stood up. "First, a fire jutsu," the jounin said off-handedly, as his hands flashed through seals. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu."

The C-ranked jutsu flashed from his mouth as he completed the jutsu, the barrage of fireballs slamming into a section of the wall that Baki had been sitting upon. As the smoke cleared, Naruto couldn't help but be impressed with the damage. It was greater than anything he'd ever seen Sasuke achieve with the technique. The force of impact and heat had been enough to riddle the wall with cracks, causing parts to fall off of the edges. Looking closer, Naruto noticed that only the outermost parts of the wall really seemed unstable, with the vast majority of its central structure still intact.

"Housenka no Jutsu is a C-ranked technique. Although I could use up to B-ranked techniques with elements I'm not aligned with, it's really too expensive, chakra wise, to be worth the effort. My alignment is with lightning jutsus, so watch what happens when I use a lightning jutsu of equal power." Kakashi said, turning his attention to another wall. Naruto had just enough time to note that the wall was in the same state of disrepair as Baki's seat had been before Kakashi's attack before the jounin launched another jutsu.

"Raiton: Surudoi Wareme." He called clearly, as he drew back his right hand. Naruto could see the blue energy dancing around his fingertips. Watching carefully, he noted that his sensei took care to keep them from coming too close together, noting the spark that resulted when he failed to do so once. After letting the glow intensify for a second, Kakashi thrust his hand forward.

An ear-bleeding snap-crack released from Kakashi's general vicinity, as a five-fold blast of lightning flew from his fingertips. The bolts swooped through the air, their trails tracing back to the hand of Kakashi, who Naruto noted was sweating slightly from the exertion of the jutsu.

The thought was completely obliterated at about the same moment that the wall was. His eyes widening slightly, he tried desperately to recall what had happened when the bolts hit the wall. Upon impact, they had seemed to splash off, spreading and crawling across its surface, the surface cracking under the barrage. Within a moment, the wall seemed to just crackle, nearly exploding under the electricity.

"Wow… I'm more out of practice than I thought." Kakashi muttered, looking over at his student. "None the less, those jutsus both had as much chakra as can be safely put into a C-rank jutsu. Notice the difference?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "The jutsu you were aligned with did a hell of a lot more."

Kakashi smiled. "That's true of all elemental jutsus, but that's only part of it. Elemental jutsus of your own alignment take less chakra to use as well as cause more damage. Additionally, you can only use A and S rank jutsus of your own alignment."

Naruto frowned again. "What about Kage Bunshin, then? It's an A-rank."

Kakashi chuckled. "Because there are two ways to use chakra in a jutsu. Changing its form, or its element. Bunshin, Kawarimi, Henge, even your Rasengan change the form of the chakra involved. Thus, no alignments involved. Enough talking, lets do this test."

Baki nodded. "Put your palm in the middle panel of glass, and push some chakra into the panel."

Nodding, not entirely certain what the man was up to, Naruto did so. It took little more than a moment for the upper-right panel to light, a brilliant blue. Baki's eyebrow rose slightly.

"Wind."

Kakashi's eyebrow imitated Baki's own, as he looked appraisingly down at his student. A good fit, all in all.

Naruto, however, seemed to disagree. "What the hell? What good does that do me?"

Looking appraisingly at Naruto for a minute, Baki finally let out a chuckle. "You want to see? Alright then." He stood, picking up the wooden frame, and carefully stowing it a ways away from the training area. Turning back, he stepped into the middle of the open area between the ruined buildings, spread his legs to shoulder width, and crossed his arms, his stance eerily similar to Gaara's.

"Come at me. You'll never land a finger." Turning to Kakashi, he nodded. "I'll take care of him from here. I'm more qualified for wind alignment anyways."

Nodding, the copy ninja walked away, making his way back into the body of the village, intent on finding his other student, and sitting down with her for a long-overdue lesson of Genjutsu 201.

3

Raiton: Surudoi Wareme – Lighting Release: Sharp Crack – Named for the noise released on impact, the jutsu causes lightning to rush across the opponent, usually resulting in electrical burns, nervous system damage and, depending on site of impact, cardiac arrest. On inanimate objects, well, you've seen what can happen.


	31. Battles of Hearts and Bodies

Chapter 31: Battles of Hearts and Bodies

One of the primary principles taught in the Jyuuken style was for a fighter to stand their ground. The theory was that a fighter should envision themselves as a rock, shrugging off the attacks of an adversary as if they were merely flee-bites. This principle is epitomized by the fighting style of Hyuuga Neji, the prodigy and legal champion of the Hyuuga Clan. His capacity to block or shrug off blows was second to none.

Hinata, was nothing like that. As far as the Hyuuga's traditional Jyuuken style went, she was near the bottom of the clan in terms of ability. Where Neji could take a blow to the shoulder and never even flinch, Hinata would be sent stumbling by the same blow. Neji could block a kick to the gut with one hand, and stop it cold. Hinata could just barely slow it down with two. Where traditional Jyuuken called for physical durability and stamina, Hinata could not answer the call. Where it called for strength of mind and body, she had a spirit broken by her father's constant disapproval, and a body that could not muster the necessary physical power.

For a long time, Hinata had folded up under this pressure, simply letting herself be ridiculed and looked down upon by her family as she strove to fit into the guidelines of a system that she could never fully embrace. To earn her family's respect, her father's love, she strove to acquire the strength, stamina and durability that Jyuuken called for from its users.

Of course, anyone who saw her disastrous battle with Neji during their first Chuunin exam knows the results of that. And it was partially due to that experience that Hinata came to a realization. She would never be able to achieve the ideals of the Jyuuken.

As anyone could imagine, that initially led the girl to a rather deep fit of despair. That she could never earn her family's respect and her father's love was a devastating realization, particularly to a girl who had so long strove for it.

This despair was dispelled by the same miracle tonic that had so often doomed cases of despair before it. The blond bundle of energy known as Uzumaki Naruto. As he waged his battle against the fatalistic attitudes of Hyuuga Neji, Hinata saw in front of her a battle much like the one she had waged against the tenants of the Hyuuga family, one of tradition, and those who will not, or cannot, conform to it.

Naruto's crushing of Hyuuga Neji served to stoke the fires of Hinata's crush. But it also served to show her another option. If she could not receive her father's approval through the use of the normal Jyuuken, she would receive his approval by developing her own variety.

As the clan heir, she knew it to be a dangerous game she played. The Clan Council, who held so much authority over the actions of the clan members, had many who would not take kindly to the existence of a deviant or renegade version of the Jyuuken. It was in many ways amazing to Hinata that she had managed to avoid discovery in her work; although the aid of Kiba and Shino in both developing and hiding her work was not at all inconsequential.

Yet Hinata had reached a point in her development where the style needed more than just its original two opponents to develop against. Kiba and Shino offered no more challenges or variations that she had to work around or counter. Now it was time for her to branch out into fighting other opponents, developing her style against those whom she had not fought before.

And it was this that leads us to a cavern deep within the confines of Tobihi. The cavern was rather like an egg on its side, with one end being considerably larger than the other. The largest edge was about 30 meters across, the narrow a little less than 8 meters. Stalagmites dotted the field, several clusters of them growing into a rough circle in the center of the informal training area.

It was just outside of this circle that Hinata was presently sparring against her opponent. It was the third time she had met this man on the field, and yet every time they entered into a sparring match, he proved that he had been holding back the previous fight. It was all that Hinata could to do keep up with him during their weekly sparring matches.

The little twinge she felt in her chest every time she saw Fushi on the field didn't help much either. He was older than her or her cousin Neji, that much she was certain of, although the gap in years wasn't all that much. And she had to admit, he was kind of cute in the way that a well-to-do, gym-obsessed businessman was. His face was smooth, powerful; the type that crushed opposition under sheer force of personality.

Leaning back to avoid a chop to the neck, Hinata observed once again the calloused palms, toughened edges and worn fingertips of a trained martial artist. It was strange though, that the tops of his hand had not such wear and tear. Indeed, in all the times she had sparred with Fushi, he had never once thrown an actual punch. Every other martial arts strike in existence, yes, but never a punch.

Her contemplation was immediately brought to an end when she noticed the kick heading for the back of her legs. Stepping a leg to the side, she shifted her weight, straightening her spine as she did so, putting a slight spin to her motion as a result. Letting the spin continue, as the motion made it not quite impossible for a meaningful hit to be landed by an opponent, Hinata ended the motion facing off with Fushi again. The stance, as with so much of the style she was working on, had begun as a variation on the Jyuuken's basic form. Where Jyuuken called for the leading arm to be held out straight in front of the user, Hinata held it closer to the body, the tips of her fingers pointed towards the roof, her palm directed at the opponent in front of her; the 'back' hand held down even with the hip, the palm directed at the ground. The leg placement of the original Jyuuken was similar to the famed Hakke Rokujouyon Shou, but with the hips aimed forward, making it far more difficult for a strike to knock the user off balance. Hinata, however, found quickly that it made the style slower to move, and found that angling her hips until they were at a 45 degree angle to her opponent gave her much better maneuverability overall.

Fushi barely let her settle into a stance before he launched his next barrage of attacks. Leaning to the left to avoid a downward swipe of his hand, she thrust her hand in at his ribcage, aiming for the tenketsu that rested along the floating rib. One of the key tenketsu for the respiratory system, as it supplied the diaphragm with chakra, disabling it would be a virtually assured victory.

The strike was swiftly deflected by a chop from Fushi's right hand. Spinning with the motion, he brought the left leg around in a roundhouse. Ducking underneath the strike, Hinata was surpised when the momentum of the kick abruptly stopped, and shifted back and down. Unable to react, the reverse axe-kick caught her across the sternocleidomastoid, the muscle running from the jaw down to the shoulder. Staggering from the hit, she had no time to recover as Fushi's hand came gently to rest at her neck.

"I win again, Hinata-chan." His voice caused the twitch to go off again, this time shaking her whole body a little. The Hyuuga Heiress nodded in acknowledgement, opening her mouth to speak, but found that not even a small squeak could pass her lips.

Pausing a moment, she stopped, and tried again. When she spoke again, the voice that came from her would not have been recognized by the members of Teams 7 and 10, whom had not been with the girl during the past month or so of continuous combat, of continuous loss.

"Yes you did, Fushi-kun." Hinata's voice was gravelly, almost pained sounding. In spite of this, however, there were notes of confidence in the voice that had never been there before. Confidence that came from having fought off ANBU level ninja, having killed ANBU level ninja.

Kiba didn't like that voice. He loved to hear the confidence in it, to him it was proof that his teammate was growing up, growing stronger on her own, without the fox, he couldn't bring himself to call Naruto a bastard, no matter how much he wanted to. No, it was the harsh, gravelly tone of voice that he couldn't stand. It was a reminder of the one time in this war that he and Akamaru had failed. The one time they had failed to notice the one scent that was most important. The scent of a deadly poison gas. Hinata had been lucky to survive the attack, although the medic-nins with them said it would take someone considerably better than her to rebuild her trachea and voicebox back to their original condition.

Fortunately enough, Kiba wasn't around at the moment to hear that voice. Fushi and Hinata stepped back, before issuing a slight bow of respect. "Hinata-chan, I must go. I have a patrol to prepare for." Fushi said, receiving a nod of acknowledgement from Hinata before he made his way to the exit.

Reaching the entrance to the cave, he passed by Yamato. Glancing over at the ANBU ninja, Fushi gave a slight nod, before he continued on his way. Yamato glanced at the younger boy, returning the nod, before his eyes settled on Hinata.

"Hinata, Kurenai is looking for you, I believe. There are orders from the Hokage for your redeployment." Behind him, Fushi's ears perked up slightly at this. "She is waiting for you at your usual location."

"Thank you." Hinata said, rushing out of the cavern to meet with her sensei. Yamato dispersed into a pile of wood, the Moku Bunshin having served its purpose. Fushi watched Hinata for a moment, waiting for an appropriate amount of distance to pass before he unsealed a small scroll, and deployed the sumijutsu within it. A small, ink-black bug flew off after the Hyuuga heiress, as Fushi rolled the scroll back up, and made his way to a secure location to await the spying bug's return.

1

The training area was deadly silent after Baki's declaration and dismissal of Kakashi. Most ninja from Konoha had long ago learned not to provoke Naruto by saying he'd never do something, unless they were very confident in that fact. He had this disturbing talent for making opponents look like idiots by proving them wrong.

Whether Baki knew this or not was debatable. Naruto, for one, didn't much care either way as he launched himself at Baki, his arms seemingly boneless from the way that they trailed behind him. The trick was one taught to all ninja as a way to keep their intended attack from anticipated too far in advance. It wasn't all that effective against other ninja, but it did help some.

Baki noticed the right hand curling back slightly, and smirked. The boy was intending to land a palm strike in his solar plexus, a very good opening strike. Were it to hit, Baki would be left wide open and out of breath, unable to defend against a follow-through until he caught his breath again. Most ninja trained to be able to recover from such a strike quickly, but against another ninja, the small opening could be deadly.

Naruto's hand never even came close to Baki. Three feet away from the jounin he felt himself being picked up, as if by a giant hand or spatula, and sent flipping away into the air. Baki watched with his eyes alone as the blond struck the ground, rolling with the momentum.

Naruto grunted in pain as he hit the ground, almost sure he could feel one of his ribs try and crack, before his healing abilities caught up to it. Standing up, he looked at Baki again, surreptitiously checking the area around the older ninja for traps. Seeing none, his frown deepened. What the hell had he just been hit by? Wind chakra was the obvious answer, but Naruto couldn't see how such a feat was possible.

Shaking it off, Naruto decided to go for his all-time favorite strategy. Beat the hell out of the other guy until he tells you what you want to know. Namely, what the hell good was wind chakra, and what had he just done?

Baki saw the boy charge again, obviously intent on beating on the jounin until he found out what had just happened. He had yet to move a muscle from his almost Gaara-like stance, and he didn't intend to.

Twenty feet from the Suna jounin, Naruto felt that same invisible hand/spatula send him flying again. This time, rather than upward, it crashed into his right-hand side, sending him flying into the wall of a ruined building. The blond groaned on impact, this time sure at least two of his ribs had given out on him temporarily. Still, channeling his chakra into his feet, he made his way up the side of the structure, using its height to give himself some distance. Time to get tricky.

Baki waited patiently. Naruto wouldn't take too long before his next attack; the boy wanted answers too badly for that.

He wasn't disappointed, as the blond ninja began to run down the side of the building, before launching himself at Baki. The Suna jounin shook his head in disappointment, before the invisible spatula of doom struck down hard, pinning Naruto to the ground.

He was surprised to hear a faint 'pop' come from the blond. A second rushing of air came from the opposite side of the field, and the spatula of doom immediately reformed, swatting the second Naruto through the air, sending him flying into Baki's field of vision. This one did not go pop as it struck the ground. Rolling, it quickly got to its feet, as Baki detected a presence behind him.

A vortex of wind formed around the jounin, a second vortex forming outside of it, between the two stood the Kage Bunshin. Narrowing the vortex, Baki picked the blond clone up, spun it around his body several times in the swirling winds, and then shot him out at break-neck speeds, aimed directly at the original Naruto.

The blond's eyes widened in shock just before clone slammed into original, sending both ninja flying into another ruined building. As the clone dispersed into a puff of smoke, Naruto frowned. This was getting irritating. He launched another rush at Baki.

Deciding to change things up a bit, Baki moved away from the invisible spatula of doom. Instead, he focused a bit, and Naruto was surprised when the ground underneath him seemed to explode. A vortex of air burst up around him, lifting him into the air through a combination of pressure and suction. As he reached a little over twenty feet, Baki shifted his concentration again. Naruto began to fall.

Only to have an air current wrap him up in its power, and accelerate him into a wall. Bouncing off of the stone substance, Baki concentrated again, and a trio of near-invisible blades of air lashed out, cutting deeply into Naruto's back. Groaning, he fell to the ground. He felt the familiar pain of his body knitting itself back together, and cautiously picked himself up. Within ten seconds, the wounds had repaired themselves, and he once again came at Baki.

The jounin snorted, until he felt a burst of chakra. Recognizing the distinct chakra signature of a kawarimi no jutsu, he sent a burst of pressure. The Naruto he had slashed dispelled in a pop, and the Naruto that had appeared behind him was sent flipping along the ground from the pressure.

Growling, Naruto settled into a stance again, before attacking Baki.

The jounin sighed. A vortex of air began to build behind him, aimed directly at Naruto. With a pulse of chakra, he smirked, and the vortex spiraled outward, engulfing the Konoha shinobi.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as the tunnel of wind built up around him. The ground underneath him rapidly began to be swept up into the swirl of the vortex, and Naruto was forced to guard himself against the increasingly fast debris in the funnel. Feeling his feet begin to slide slightly, the blond chanced to look down. To his horror, he realized that he was losing ground. Literally.

The funnel picked him up in its rotation, in its spinning ramming against him all of the debris that had been picked up out of the ground. Baki, who was beginning to sweat slightly now, focused a pulse of his chakra at Naruto.

The funnel around Naruto accelerated until without warning, the blond was sent flying from the vortex; which promptly died. As he flew through the air, Baki sent another pulse of chakra. Naruto had no desire to find out what he had just done. Bringing his hands into the sign for a Kage Bunshin, he generated four of the clones to stop his headlong flight by grabbing onto him.

It proved pointless, as the ground underneath the five Naruto's began to spin, dust clouds forming a circle for a moment, before a massive vortex popped up again. The five were ripped into the air, as the vortex formed into a sphere, wind currents running around all over the place inside. Using those currents, Baki began slamming the four clones against the original Naruto, dispelling all of them in relatively short order, before he dropped the blond once again.

Naruto bounced off the ground this time, and did not stand back up immediately. Waiting for a moment, Baki nodded, and settled out of his stance. "When you're ready to continue, get up."

2

Kakashi reached the library before he remembered something. He had forgotten to tell Naruto about his 'special training method.' Oh well, forming his hand into the seal for a Kage Bunshin, he created a pair of clones, and sent them off to do the deed.

"Oh Kakashi…" The sing-song came from a shock of light brown hair, accompanied by dark brown eyes and purple cheek stripes.

The white-haired jounin known as Hatake Kakashi looked up to meet the eyes of his only surviving teammate, Omoima Rin. Noting the glint to those eyes, he was possessed by the subtle fear that he should be rapidly fleeing the slightly older kunoichi. At this point it becomes obvious the results of almost a full decade apart. For before Rin's capture and 'death', had Kakashi seen that look in her eye, the genius would have set a new speed record for travel time between Suna and Konoha.

Alas, Kakashi didn't have that sort of first-hand experience with Rin anymore, and was shortly to relearn precisely why she had always been one of the few people that Kakashi, at the most elemental level, feared.

Sakura was surprised that the two older shinobi hadn't noticed her yet. It wasn't often that one snuck up on Kakashi, but she wasn't about to let the opportunity to find out more about her secretive, long-time sensei go by unattended. Ducking into an alley alongside the library, she listened intently.

"So how's the team going?" Rin's voice was saccharine as she stepped inside of Kakashi's guard. The jounin reflexively stepped back.

"Good. I was just on my way to meet with Sakura. In fact, I think I should go do that now." Kakashi said, not entirely sure why all his instincts were screaming for him to get away from his surviving teammate.

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind waiting a bit. I mean, we haven't even had a chance to talk yet, and it's been over a month! You must have thought I was dead or something." Rin exclaimed, once again stepping inside of Kakashi's guard.

The comment struck home, as the silver-haired jounin stopped where he stood. "We did. You're on the Hero's stone. Two lines down from sensei, twelve from Obito. 12 and 109 name separation, respectively."

Sakura's eyes widened as she heard Kakashi rattle off the numbers, like they were figures he had long ago memorized. It made sense, in a twisted sort of way. The respect he had for the stone, the way he spoke about it at their first bell test, he must spend hours staring at it every day.

Rin's eyes hardened slightly. "Please don't tell me you've become a stone-watcher." The tone held a promissory note; one of extreme injuries pending the wrong answer.

"…Maybe." Kakashi responded.

That was the wrong answer Rin was waiting for. Before the Hoseisan could even begin to react, his former teammate grabbed him by the chest, and slammed him up against the wall of the library. He was more than a little surprised, the kunoichi had never really been the front-line fighter of the group, serving, as Sakura did, more as a support-recovery role than that of an actual combatant. But here she was, pinning him to the side of the library, and every fiber of his being warned him that a wrong word might just make her prove what a medic-nin's finely honed knowledge of anatomy, combined with a few creatively used ijutsus, could do to an opponent.

"Do you REALLY think that Obito, OR sensei would want you to waste your life staring at that hunk of rock? Is THAT why you never found the time to train your students yourself? Because it would cut into the time you use to watch the damned STONE?"

Kakashi watched the brunette, his mask and covered eye damned near completely hiding his emotions or reactions. Yet underneath his slanted hitae-ate, he could feel Obito's eye burning. The burn wasn't one of tears, rather more of a dull throbbing ache that spread down his cheek muscles and down into his sternocleidomastoid. Really, it was almost more uncomfortable than Rin pinning him to the wall.

"And WHAT is this shit with you favoring the Uchiha boy? You know how the Uchiha treated Obito. Do I need to remind you of the favoritism Itachi got over OUR old teammate? Do I? Do you really think he'd want you to give that kind of favoritism to anyone? MUCH less his own cousin?" Rin punctuated her statements by jerking Kakashi off of the wall, before slamming him against the surface again. He began to feel his back bruising slightly, but ignored it.

"I owed it to Obito to make sure that his cousin didn't betray the village."

"Fine job you did THERE! Don't give me that bullshit Kakashi. It must have been one hell of an ego trip for you, to get the last surviving Uchiha to train into a city-civilian's idealization of a ninja. Dark, and mysterious and ooooooh so dangerous." Rin's voice went from angry to accusing to a taunting sing-song as she ended the statement. Then she did something that surprised Kakashi more than anything else.

She grasped his mask, yanked it down, wrapped a hand around the back of his head, and pulled him down into a soul-scorching kiss. The silver-haired jounin's eyes widened almost comically, as Rin pressed her entire body, every plane and curve and slope of it, into his body. As his hands began to finally react, his brain catching up to the fact that maybe he should take part in this little activity as well, the kunoichi pulled away. Reaching up, she twitched his mask back into place, and smirked. "Don't think we're done yet." Rin said as she walked away, her hips twitching slightly with her walk. "Go help your student."

Kakashi simply stared off after the kunoichi, his mind entirely uncertain with how to handle the encounter. He could swear, however, that he could hear a perverted giggle reach his ears from the rooftop above him. Looking up, he saw no proof that the Toad Sannin was watching, but knew that visual proof was the last thing he would find of the experienced peeping tom. Shaking himself free of the stupor, he decided to take Rin's advice, and go help Sakura with her genjutsu work.

Sakura, seeing her sensei headed into the library, slipped further down the alley, and then into the back entrance to the building. Nodding to the shinobi guard there, she quickly made her way to the seat where she had been before stepping out for a breath of air. Kakashi shortly took a seat across from her, and Sakura found it incredibly difficult to not mention what she had just seen.

3


	32. You Don't Spit Into the Wind

AN: Alright, before anyone who's been keeping up with the manga points it out, I am ENTIRELY aware of Naruto's present skill and abilities. However, as my story is an AU/divergence, the situation's entirely different. Our little blond bundle of energy is good, but I personally place a little bit more importance on the skills that come from experience than Kishimoto is apparently placing. For those who have been wondering about what the hell an Ekiseijin is (I didn't define it on purpose) among other things, you will find your answers. Not this chapter, but DEFINITELY before Danzou goes down.

Which means, at this rate… Before chapter 60. (Yeah… I'm mean that way) Along those same lines, those who were asking for the results of Kakashi and Rin's little face off will have to wait a couple more chapters. I need to further define Rin's personality to myself before I go too far along that vein. (Hinthint)

Chapter 32: You Don't Spit into the Wind

Naruto groaned slightly as he took to his knees. How had Baki done that? Was that the power of wind? Shaking, he slowly turned his head up to look at the jounin.

The Sand ninja sat on a section of wall, his customary veil still firmly in place. The untrained wouldn't be able to detect much out of the ordinary, and Naruto had to admit, three years ago, he wouldn't have either.

Of course, as he was himself beginning to realize, there was precious little left of the Naruto of three years ago. Although those close to him would cite his caring and empathy, he would probably say that's all that was left.

The jounin's body was shaking slightly, with constant jerks in the small muscles of the body. The constant readjustment of the small muscles was a sign that they no longer had the strength necessary to hold themselves at the proper tension to keep Baki balanced and upright on the wall. So they compromised, using his body rather like a pendulum, overbalancing first one way, then the other, constantly correcting in an attempt to keep him in place.

His veil had dried quickly in the desert heat, but he could see the locations where it was stiff, and he could faintly smell the stink of sweat. The jounin had exerted himself horribly in his battle against Naruto.

Yet the blond had to admit; he had been completely outclassed. The jounin hadn't even brought taijutsu into the battle, hell, he hadn't even bothered to move, he'd just used chakra to interrupt Naruto's attacks every time. Had he tried to, Naruto was certain that Baki could have performed ballet, and still beaten Naruto.

He was still smarting about how Jiraiya had done that… Of course, he hadn't even had to put effort into it, but that's what he got for being a Sannin. Unless Naruto harnessed the Kyuubi chakra, he couldn't even hope to match Jiraiya… Or Baki, for that matter.

Naruto winced at that thought. If he couldn't match Jiraiya, how was he supposed to bring back Sasuke? Hell, how could he even hope to hold off Akatsuki?

"Boy, I see you're up, so get over here."

1

"What?" Kiba barked out as he sat up a little straighter on Akamaru. "We're being called back to Sand? Why?"

Kurenai and Neji glanced around for a moment, before casting a silencing genjutsu. It was unfortunate that the Byakugan could not see jutsus the way that the Sharingan could, for if it were able to, Neji would have noted that a particular patch of shadows had a most unusual chakra pattern, and in fact, actually had chakra.

However, the Byakugan's ability to see chakra was limited to that of a person's chakra coil's, and thus did not notice their eavesdropper.

"We've received information about the present location of the Sound village. Tsunade and Jiraiya, along with the Kazekage, believe that this is our best chance to take them down."

Gai jumped in with a verbal Dynamic Entry, cutting Kurenai off. "Even with our flames of youth, we cannot fight two wars at once. And although it would be most unyouthful, the Sound would willingly attack the village after we have taken it back. We must take advantage of our most youthful opportunity to prevent this."

Hinata shuddered a little at the… youthful display. "I understand… so when do we need to be there?" Kiba managed to suppress the urge to kick himself, and Akamaru managed not to whimper in sympathy. She smiled at her teammates, hoping the expression was thankful in nature.

"We leave immediately. Gather your belongings." Kurenai said, as she released the genjutsu. The ninja immediately dispersed. Soon after, a bug of ink reformed, and flew to its origin. Spreading out, the conversation was rewritten, word for word, in front of Fushi.

Nodding, he formed a quick set of seals, and pressed a hand to the scroll. Miles away, a scroll on a table in Danzou's office lit up, and the text in front of Fushi was transferred to the replica scroll.

His task done, Fushi made ready for his patrol. He somehow had a feeling Danzou would be recalling him soon. If he knew his master, he would want his top lieutenants at hand for what was to come.

2

Naruto gratefully took a seat on the rock Baki pointed him towards. Reaching around his back, Baki pulled out a soldier pill, and popped it into his mouth. Turning an evaluating eye on the boy in front of him, he tossed one to the jinchuuriki as well. Catching it, Naruto examined the pill for a moment, before swallowing it as well. Baki watched in silent amusement as a portion of the boy's energy returned to him within moments.

"Not too bad… Not too bad at all." Baki said finally, watching carefully for the boy's reaction. All he saw was a tilt of the head and a slight narrowing of the eyes.

"What the hell?" Oh… he actually said something too. Baki almost missed that.

"You've got potential as a ninjutsuist. Pretty damned good one, too. You learn how to use wind chakra properly and you'd be able to give most ninja a run for their money."

Naruto's head tilted a little further to the side. Baki couldn't help the feeling that it was going to somehow roll off of Naruto, and go bouncing across the desert sands. Squashing the chuckle, he waited for the boy to ask the inevitable questions.

"How's that? I couldn't even lay a finger on you."

Baki blinked. That wasn't quite what he'd expected to be first. "You're good, but you're not quite at jounin yet. And I'm much better than most jounin. Kankurou and Temari still have to double-team me to actually have a real chance. And all three of us still couldn't do much more than slow down Gaara, even after the Shukaku was taken out of him."

That made Naruto feel a little better. He might still have a chance to save Sasuke after all. "So what do I do?"

Baki smiled. That was what he'd been waiting for. "Well, you've got potential as a ninjutsuist. But before you can make any use of it, you need to learn how to use wind chakra." Reaching down, Baki snagged the bag he had brought with him. "To do that, we use this." Rustling around in the bag for a moment, he pulled out… another sheet of glass. Holding it up to Naruto, he focused for a moment, and before Naruto's eyes, the glass split cleanly in half.

"Once you learn how to use the wind chakra properly, you should be able to split a pane of glass clean in half. If you're doing it wrong, you'll merely shatter it." He said, depositing the glass in Naruto's lap. The blond caught the two pieces, ignoring the slight cuts that he received. Examining them, he frowned.

"How?"

Baki nodded. Time for the details. Jumping down off of the wall, he stood next to Naruto. Reaching out, he put a hand on the boy's shoulder, and pushed down, hard.

"This is pressure. It is the result of one thing pushing against another. When we punch, it is the pressure of our strike that causes injury. When pressure is focused onto a smaller area." Baki's hand lifted off of Naruto's shoulder for an instant, before a single finger came down, backed by the same amount of pressure. The blond flinched. "When pressure is focused onto a smaller area, the results become more pronounced. When an object is moving, pressure feeds off of the speed, the resulting force..." he pulled his finger back, before accelerating it at the front of Naruto's shoulder. The blond felt his entire torso move with the strike. "Is considerably greater than either speed or pressure could achieve on their own. Think back to that demonstration earlier. What do you remember?" Naruto's eyes widened for a moment. "That's right." Baki confirmed the unspoken question. "Wind chakra works by changing the pressure and speed that the air around us moves at. The air always pushes with at least a small amount of pressure, and we can use our chakra to increase or decrease this pressure."

Naruto nodded, leaning forward slightly. Hook, line and sinker, Baki had the boy's attention.

3

Across the training field, the two Kakashi's watched in something resembling shock. One of them had his Sharingan displayed, taking in every word and detail for later analysis. Baki was getting through to the blond like he never could. He'd be damned if he let the opportunity to find out just how he was doing it slip by.

4

"Decreasing air pressure is something that requires little chakra, but high levels of chakra control. Thus why it's a technique mostly used by kunoichi." Baki said, as he resumed his seat on the wall. "Of course, there are always exceptions, like Temari. She uses her fan to supplement her own chakra, thus getting around the high chakra demands of increasing air pressure. Although it takes more chakra, increasing pressure is actually fairly simple in terms of chakra control. The trick is learning how to do it in a way that's actually useful. Most of the time, just increasing the pressure of the air is pointless. It wastes more chakra than is really useful, and would damage you and your allies as much as it would your enemies."

Naruto nodded, the calm he displayed a little surprising to the watching Kakashi's. why couldn't he be that calm when Kakashi taught him?

"That's why any ninja who is taught to use wind chakra is taught how to make it cut, like I did with that piece of glass." At this point, he held up two hands, and looked at Naruto. "Watch my hands. Imagine that they are my chakra. When I turn it into wind chakra, I put it out into the air, and press them together." To demonstrate the point, he pushed the hands together. Grasping a rock, he used a bit of wind chakra to suspend it between the two hands. "Now imagine that the rock is the air that I'm pushing against." Baki once again pushed his hands together. This time, the rock prevented them from being able to push against one another completely. "The air, like the rock in between my hands, will try and prevent me from pushing it in. When it cant achieve that…" Baki pushed his hands together, angled in slightly. The rock shot past Naruto's head. "It goes flying. With the air, you use chakra to push as much as you can as close together as you can." Holding up a hand, he pointed it at a section of wall sitting to the left of Naruto and himself. Focusing a bit, Naruto watched as a shimmering piece of air flew at the rock. And sliced it in half.

"As you push the chakra together, the gap will get smaller. As it does so, it forces a lot of air is forced to escape through a VERY small space, and the pressure will actually cut through anything short of steel." Baki said, as the top half of the rock did a theatric slide. "The more air gathered, the further the technique can go. Usually, it isn't worth the chakra for a ninja to gather the air necessary for a long-range wind jutsu."

5

Nodding, the two Kakashi's stepped out, ready to fulfill their mission and return to their 'real' body, so they could analyze their newly acquired data. If all went well, they might just be able to be the sensei Naruto had always NEEDED them to be.

6

Tsunade frowned as she looked the letter in her hand over once again. Something about it just seemed wrong. She hadn't known the Uchiha very well, but this seemed off.

_Dobe, Tsunade;_

_If you've bothered to read this, then congratulations, you might just be able to 'rescue' me. I've got a little bit of a bet for you, dobe._

You see, I don't know how you did it, but you managed to wound Orochimaru worse than he thought. Bad enough that Kabuto had to perform surgery. What he did precisely, I don't know. Something about transplanting Chakra coils.

Tsunade was familiar with the surgery in the theoretical sense. She had never studied it enough to perform it, although she had the skills. It was risky, and a body would never truly accept a foreign set of chakra coils. The foreign coils would always have sub-par control compared to what the ninja in question would be used to, and there would always be a slight leak of chakra, no matter how good the surgeon was. For Orochimaru, it would only be a few months worth of annoyance.

Anyways, I'm rather impressed, I must admit. I wonder which of us has gotten stronger. I'm writing this shortly before the meeting between Tsunade and the Tsuchikage. Six months from that time, Orochimaru will be ready to perform the body swap, and we will be strong enough to kill Itachi. If you can defeat me one on one before that time, I will willingly come back to Konoha. After all, if the dobe could get strong enough to defeat me in that place, maybe I could get strong enough to kill Itachi by returning.

Because of Orochimaru's surgery, we are unable to move between our bases of operation. Of course, he will still be quite willing to fight, and he will most likely discover this little bet long before you decide to come fight me, so I wouldn't come without a plan to deal with him. After all, it wouldn't be a very good measure if you are already tired AGAIN.

Sasuke Uchiha.

The letter ended in a set of coordinates. The Kazekage had already sent his own ANBU team to the location to scout and if possible spy on the base's occupants.

The way the letter ended… Reading over it again, Tsunade picked apart every sentence, every word for what seemed like hours. She could feel a slight tickle at the back of her mind, feel it consume all the way through to her forebrain, and felt her eyes harden, mind hasten, focus intensify. Reading again, she felt herself approaching the letter's writing with the same cool logic and analytic skills she brought to medical quandaries and truly intense battles.

Where she had picked before, she shredded now, tearing through the words and wringing their secrets and meanings from them. Although Sasuke couldn't have possibly known she could do this; it wasn't even something she'd let her own apprentice in on, she knew that Orochimaru must have counted on it when he told Sasuke to write the letter, and what to be sure to include.

Tsunade was not willing that Orochimaru was actually as much or more the sender of this challenge as Sasuke was. He had always been of like mind with the militant Danzou, and so must have concluded that if he could end the weaker threat in this three-way war first, he would be able to focus all attention on Danzou's militant forces.

It might have seemed that it was odd for the Legendary Sucker not to bet on a given piece of information, until her tendency to use her good luck as a sign of horrible luck for her loved ones was taken into account. This was something she had no desire to curse her precious people in. She knew what kind of plan Orochimaru wanted them to use.

He wanted one last fight with his old friends, one to decide who was truly superior. That he was willing to go into it with the handicap of surgically implanted chakra coils was as much a sign of his arrogance as his self-confidence.

Tsunade wasn't one to deny her 'old friend' such a request. And she was quite willing to make sure that not only Naruto, but all of his friends were ready for this fight. Thus the recall of those left at Tobihi, so that they could focus completely on their training, under the watch and guidance of not only the combined skills of all the jounin sensei's, but herself, Jiraiya, and as many as Gaara was willing to spare.

Chuunin were often referred to as Journeyman ninja, Tsunade recalled in an almost complete non sequitur. She recalled more than a couple journeyman craftsman she had met over her lifetime. Although all of them were capable enough on their own to spend their time polishing skills rather than learning them, they still required the guidance of masters. Not only to perfect skills, but to unlock their full potential, and reach levels they couldn't before.

To Tsunade, that seemed to fit perfectly.

7

Naruto nodded as he caught on to what Kakashi was telling him. Turning to Baki, he grabbed a piece of glass, and holding it in his hand, he formed the seal for the Kage Bunshin.

Instantly, thousands of Naruto's filled the training area. Jumping up onto the wall, Naruto turned to his swarm, and nodded. "Lets get to work!" he cried, punching a fist into the air.

8

Baki smiled at the boy's exuberance, and turned to the twin Kakashi's. "Would you mind helping me to the clinic." He muttered quietly.

The two nodded, and the three of them quietly made their way away from the training area. As soon as they judged themselves safely outside of the boy's sensory range, Baki stopped fighting, and collapsed. One of the Kakashi's immediately caught him, and made his way to Sunagakure's clinic, as the other dispelled itself, notifying the original of all that had occurred. It smiled just before it did so. The original was gonna have SUCH a headache.


	33. Three Days

Chapter 33: Three Days

It is amazing the things that can occur in three days, particularly in the world of ninja. In three days, a thousand Naruto Clones, using the Kage Bunshin Training trick for 18 hours a day, learned to split a piece of glass cleanly in half with chakra. Rin and Sakura would subsequently barbeque him for overstraining himself, and then utilize ninja restraints to attach him to a bed. Coincidentally, it was the same one that the wind master Baki had been strapped to a mere day before.

It took three days for a team of 3 jounins, 5 chuunins, and one absurdly large ninken to travel from Tobihi to Sunagakure. In that time, Kiba had complained of the heat in something resembling, but entirely unlike, an infinite amount of different ways, tones, pitches and angles. Neji had nearly jyuukened him just as many times, until Hinata stopped him. Except for the last time, when she did the honors herself. Lee and Gai had had 90 bursts of 'youthfulness' and the entire team had subconsciously wished that the water were real, and not salty, at least as many times. Tenten had polished her various throwing weapons 12 times, and had been manually restrained from skinning Akamaru and Kiba for coats 37 times. Kurenai damned near put them all under a genjutsu, but thought better of having to carry them all. Shino offered to help her, but was declined.

In all, they thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

It took a day for Sakura to intimately grasp the basic theory of genjutsu, another for advanced theory, and a day to both conceive of uses for such genjutsus, and realize that she lacked both the charka capacity, and experience to be able to implement more advanced forms of genjutsu. Three days to go from academy level knowledge to fairly strong mastery of the advanced concepts. There were times she was thankful for her eidetic memory.

It took three days for Kakashi to be able to look at Rin without a blush staining his thankfully hidden face. It took three days for Rin to stop giggling every time he quickly looked just over her shoulder. It took three days for Asuma to decide it was time to ask Kakashi what the hell was going on, and three days for Temari to wring the gist of it from Rin, and give the older woman a look, and a high-five.

Upon the arrival of the Tobihi contingent, Tsunade briefed the chuunin on the situation with Sound more fully, and training began in earnest. At her prompting, Gaara assigned a detachment of ANBU to keep an eye on the chuunins and Neji to ensure that none of them worked themselves to death. His orders stated that they were done with training after 12 hours, no matter what they said, and physical force was not only authorized but encouraged for restraining them.

1

The Konoha complex in Sunagakure had become considerably more livable in the time-frame that the residents had been there. Although homey would be a stretch, Kakashi knew that the vast majority of the residents were trying to make the most of the situation. When Naruto sets in on making the most of a situation, any intelligent being cuts and runs. Or at least ensures that their life and property insurance is up to speed.

At the moment, Kakashi was on his way to the Hokage's temporary office. Part of his duties as a jounin had been to make periodic updates on the status of his genin team so as to ensure that both the official records and the Hokage's records of their abilities were as up-to-date as possible.

Although he was no longer Naruto and Sakura's jounin sensei, he was still the ranking jounin in charge of dealing with the two extremely powerful chuunin and he, theoretically at least, knew their minds, moods and abilities better than anyone else. He should be able to see through their masks still.

Of course, that was all theoretical, and when it came to his former students, theoretical was useless. Sakura had always had a strong grasp of basic ninja theory, and as she went higher through the ranks, her knowledge base simply grew to be too wide, and her mask became more and more fine-honed. Although it wasn't perfect, it was enough to require some actual effort to pierce.

Naruto was far worse in his opinion. Emotional masks were hard to pick out in general, since it was easy enough to simply pass the wearer off as a bad ninja or simply distraught by whatever situation was at hand. The boy was also uncommonly good at maintaining his mask, considering how long it had taken Kakashi to pick up on and discern the nature of his hyperactive student's little disguise.

As he knocked on the door, he found himself dwelling on their new assignment to become as powerful as possible within the next three and a half months. Tsunade's announcement had been met with a mixture of emotions that could have been easily interpreted as shock. Kakashi was certain that this was somewhere in the mix, but it was a minor part of a mixture dedicated mostly to anticipation, vindication and jubilation.

"Come in." Tsunade's voice rang from inside the office. Opening the door, Kakashi saw that the Hokage had been speaking with Jiraiya. Closing the door, the jounin made his way to stand in front of the desk, slouching as he did so. He felt his hand itching for the book in his pouch, but decided against it. He didn't want a demonstration of the strength Sakura could one day look forward to, thank you very much.

"Something I can do for you, slacker?" Tsunade asked, looking at the jounin with a mixture of gentle teasing, respect, trust and that commanding authority that was ever-present in the Godaime.

"Nah, just here for the monthly update on your apprentices."

Tsunade nodded, her hands clasping in front of her face, leaving only the eyes visible. Somehow, without the window of her Tower office behind her, the look was far more menacing.

"Get the lead out, then." Tsunade motioned towards a chair, and Kakashi took it appreciatively. Jiraiya smirked at his student's student, before handing him a glass of some fruit beverage.

Kakashi nodded his thanks, taking a long sip. Damn but it was hot here.

Not that he should be surprised, he WAS in a desert after all.

"First things first, the Kyuubi seal." Kakashi turned to look at Jiraiya speculatively. The older pervert simply smiled. This kid still had a lot to learn, both on seals and pervertdom.

"It appears that the seal is holding fairly well. I wasn't able to observe the entire time, but it doesn't seem like he tapped into the Kyuubi during his training in element manipulation."

"By the way, is there a reason you let that little idiot pull that kind of stunt?" Tsunade asked, her eyes glistening dangerously. There wasn't a Konoha ninja alive that didn't know of the Hokage's fondness for Naruto, and Kakashi was considerably more aware than most.

"Quite honestly, I could have stopped him, but I wouldn't have been able to do much else for a couple days, and he'd have been up and at it again the next day." Kakashi shrugged. "I decided that the best I could do was to make sure that, when he passed out, he woke up in a bed."

"He made the right decision, hime." Jiraiya leaned back. "And about his seal, yeah, I kind of expected he wouldn't be tapping Kyuubi for a while. When I fixed it, I made a couple… improvements."

Kakashi's eyebrow raised slightly, only a half-centimeter. His eye sharpened slightly, pupil focusing down to hone in on Jiraiya, as the skin of his face pulled in half-a-dozen minor ways. Tsunade and Jiraiya both watched these transformations take place before their eyes. Concern, worry, and more than a touch of interest. He wanted to know what improvements Jiraiya made.

"The boy's seal was starting to slowly but surely fail. Most of what I did was reinforcing the original seal. My hope is that he'll be able to tap Kyuubi's chakra while avoiding some of the worst side effects. Whether I succeeded in that, I'm not entirely certain."

Kakashi frowned, the motion so slight underneath the mask that it was near impossible to see. The tensing and releasing of facial muscles was enough to tell Jiraiya, even as the slightly questioning look flashed through the boy's eye.

"The seal's original purpose is that the fox's life force would be rapidly depleted by Shinigami as long as the fox remained in it. Naruto would keep whatever chakra he managed to absorb from the fox during that time, and by the time the boy's 20 or so, the fox should be pretty much gone, little more than a bad memory. At least, that's how it was designed to begin with."

Jiraiya smirked. "I sped it up a bit. By the time he's 18, he should be rid of fuzzy-butt forever."

Kakashi looked at the Toad Sannin. "Are you sure?"

"Hey, hey, hey. You doubting me? Arashi may have been the Fuuin Jutsu Ekiseijin, but I can do a seal too ya know." Jiraiya huffed, looking away from the jounin. Tsunade's eyes twinkled with restrained mirth as she watched the two. Looking over the silver haired jounin, she gently sent out a small pulse of chakra, feeling intently for it to ping back at her from the two men.

The technique was one taught to jounin medic-nins, used to determine practically everything that one could possibly want to know about a living organism's chakra. It could read the patterns that build in a ninja's chakra and inner coils, letting an experienced medic determine if a ninja was more prone to using ninjutsus, chakra enhanced taijutsu or genjutsu. It could determine the amount of chakra a person possessed at the present time, and if a user was good enough, could even tell them how much control a person possessed from the ambient levels in their limbs, and what particular types of jutsus were most commonly used.

Tsunade was VERY good. The response she got from Jiraiya was as expected. His chakra levels were at just about maximum capacity, with his ambient chakra levels distributed evenly throughout the body, focused most heavily in his feet and the palms of the hands. The feet would be a given for any really experienced ninja, as that would be a point used for chakra control. The palms of the hands were a slightly trickier concept, but Tsunade knew them to be the sign of a ninja who used summoning-type techniques frequently.

The pattern of chakra flow through Jiraiya's body was fairly evenly distributed throughout the torso and limbs, although a little less of it flowed through the cranial coils. It wasn't a surprise, genjutsus weren't really Jiraiya's cup of tea. She absently noted the chakra that moved heavily through his brain stem and the cellular structure of his endocrine system. Everything was as it had been the last fifty times she had hit Jiraiya with the pulse.

Kakashi was a surprise to the Godaime. The patterns of chakra read him as a ninjutsuist who had maybe half-a-dozen commonly used tricks, with a fairly strong pattern concentration in the eyes and nose, consistent with someone who uses sensory abilities in battle often. His limbs had the expected level of patterning for a jounin level ninja, and his chakra was close enough to maximum to be expected. His fingers had a stronger chakra pattern than the center of his hand, consistent with a ninjutsuist.

No, what surprised her was the way that his chakra-coils had started to thicken and stretch into specific parts of his body. More specifically, his brain-stem and endocrine system. Although it was intensely difficult to pulse oneself, Tsunade knew for a fact that pulsing herself would reveal that her own coils were well entrenched in those systems. The systems were more vital for long-term functionality than for day-to-day maintenance of the body, so the inner coils tended to just barely touch on them, providing the necessary chakra for the systems to function, but not much more than that.

Of course, ninja aren't normal. Filing the information as something to keep in mind and bring up later, Tsunade motioned for the silver-haired jounin to continue. She wanted an update on HER apprentice, damn it!

1

Sakura shook her head as she closed the door to her blond teammate's room, ignoring the container's protests. Her eyes widened slightly as she heard the blond begin to curse, and glanced over her shoulder at the closed door. The cursing didn't quite cover the sound of footsteps, and Sakura turned just enough to find herself eye to cheek-stripe with the medic nin who had helped with Naruto at the Iwa negotiations.

She listened for a moment as Naruto began to get creative with his vocabulary. "Feisty, isn't he?" Sakura's nodded, eyes still somewhat wide. She didn't think Naruto KNEW that word, much less could think of using it in that way.

Rin giggled at the expression on the girl's face. "Come on, let's grab a snack." Sakura's eyebrows unconsciously rose as she blushed again. She did NOT want that kind of image of this woman and her sensei.

Still, it was a chance to get to know this woman a little better. Sakura hadn't forgotten the way that she had so adroitly pinned her sensei to the wall of the library, nor what had followed that pin. Sakura had plenty of questions for the older kunoichi. Such as just how the heck she knew Kakashi.

Well, ASIDE from the "making-out-against-the-library" kind of knowing someone. Sakura blushed slightly as the two reached the lounge that had been set aside for the jounins. Sakura's eyebrows rose again as Rin poured out two glasses of juice, and handed one to Sakura.

Rin had been a senior kunoichi long before Sakura had begun the academy. Although she might be almost a full decade out of practice, for obvious reasons, she was still pretty damned good, if she did say so herself. Once she got the chance, Kakashi was going to help her get her skills back up to snuff. Of course, the fact that he didn't know this was inconsequential. Bringing herself back from her mental 'wandering' on how at least a couple of those training sessions would ideally end, she noted the slight flush to the girl's cheeks and neck. Forming a diagnostic jutsu with barely any thought, she reached out a palm for Sakura's head.

Sakura reacted on reflex, stepping back and to the side, spinning herself out of the reach of the palm, just in case the jutsu could be extended from the hand. Looking the older woman in the eye, she saw the slight surprise, and then the understanding dawn in them.

Shaking her head, Rin let the hand fall, jutsu released. "Well that was dumb." She watched the younger girl's head tilt to the side, questioning. "No worries, should have expected that. We do train them well in Konoha, don't we?" Rin sat herself on the couch, motioning for Sakura to do the same.

Accepting the invitation, Sakura quickly went over what she knew about the woman in front of her. From what Kakashi had said at their first, less than ideal meeting, her name was Rin, and she was at least in part responsible for the implanted Sharingan that sat in Kakashi's left eye-socket. "So, how do you know Kakashi?"

Rin chuckled. "Well, isn't that a loaded question?" She observed the girl's tilted head and slight blush. "I may be out of practice, but I was a senior kunoichi and medic nin long before you were born girl. It'll be quite a few years before you're sneaking up on ninja of mine and Kakashi's experience without at least one of us noticing. And really, why do you want to know that, Sakura?"

Her eyebrows rose. She remembered her name, even in the midst of all that ruckus? "Well, I would like to know how a former slave, and apparent medic-nin of some skill happens to know my sensei."

A laugh was the only response she got. Rin threw back her head, hair jumping around slightly behind her head, as she laughed. It took several minutes for her to calm down. "Well, aren't you the territorial one? I was his teammate from his genin team, a long time ago."

Again, Sakura flushed. Territorial? Her? Hell no! And if she was, then Naruto was FAR more her type than…

She stopped at that thought. Had she REALLY just used Naruto in that little internal diatribe. Her blond teammate, not her raven-haired one? The bouncy one, not the broody one? Maybe Tsunade hit her too hard in that last training session after all?

Rin watched the twitching and facial permutations of the younger woman with no small amount of glee. She had forgotten how much fun it was to watch a colleague get flustered. She'd have to do it more often.


	34. Crucibles and Battle Saints

Chapter 34: Crucibles and Battle Saints

Dawn was not a pleasant mistress, in Naruto's humble opinion. She was a grouchy, finicky creature that always came on too early and too strong. This was particularly true when he found himself greeting her none-too-tender advances from the restraining discomfort of a hospital bed.

That was not to say that a hospital bed was uncomfortable. Far from it, they were actually a world and a half better than the mattress that he slept upon back home. Perhaps it was that difference in comfort that made him dislike them so much. It made him not want to leave, return to what he knew waited for him. Yet he knew he couldn't say anything. Shinobi of his rank don't complain like that, it was unseemly.

Unseemly… When had that slipped in there? Naruto paused for a moment, and for the first time in conscious memory, possibly in the entirety of his 16 year lifespan, he considered what he had just said. When had that word made its way into his vocabulary? Heck, when had the word vocabulary made its way into his vocabulary?

Perhaps it was that book that Gaara had recommended to him, Paths of the Shadow. He had to admit, it was a page-turner, although it left more than a few questions unanswered. What exactly had been pursuing the original shinobi, and where had they been fleeing?

The blond chuckled as the thought crossed his mind. If his friends saw him sitting here, thinking and analyzing a concept any more complex than which flavor of ramen to have first, there might have been calls for the ANBU. Followed immediately by calls for him to be taken to have a nice, loooong talk with Morino Ibiki about exactly who he was, who sent him, and what the hell he thought he was doing impersonating a Konoha shinobi, and so poorly to boot?

Shaking his head, Naruto decided that dawn, although he might not have liked how early she wanted him to get up, was quite correct in this, thank you. It was now a very good time indeed to wake up and get to work. After all, there was training to be done if he wanted to be able to deal with Sasuke when the time came.

Standing slowly, he dropped into a stretching routine that Jiraiya had shown him near the beginning of their journey. It had been a while since he had actively fallen back on anything that the super-pervert had taught him. In fact, he hadn't actually used the skills the Sannin taught him since he had returned to Konoha. He had merely fallen back into patterns that he had broken free of during those three years, exiting those patterns only when missions took him beyond the walls of his village.

Perhaps it was because he had returned to such a familiar place that he had slid back into such patterns? They were familiar, that was certain, and moreover, he knew they were expected. He could take his love of the shinobi lifestyle and exaggerate certain portions of it to a ridiculous extreme, fool the casual observer into believing he was little more than an idiot who had no clue and was destined to die painfully at some point down the road. Thinking back on it, for a while there, it had been nothing more than the truth.

Of course, that was before he acquired the personal interest of an Ekiseijin. Even after Jiraiya had explained to him the connection between the Ekiseijin and ninja's like the Sannin and the Yondaime, Naruto really hadn't quite understood the implications. To his mind, the status of Ekiseijin was merely a stepping-stone, a holding position for when he prepared to step into the post of Hokage, but Granny Tsunade was still sticking around, drinking her ass of while she held the post.

He really was an idiot, wasn't he? In the case of the Ekiseijin issue, however, it was kind of expected. Most ninja weren't really notified of what an Ekiseijin was until they were already Jounin in ranking, Naruto was told simply because he traveling and training with one.

To understand the concept of Ekiseijin, Jiraiya had told him, you had to first understand the concept of the 'will of fire'. Of course, Naruto had heard of this before, quite often. It was one of the old man's favorite things to talk about before he died, although he never really bothered saying WHAT it was. Jiraiya apparently knew about that tendency. After all, he himself had studied under the Sandaime at one point, and so he had decided to explain it to his newest student.

The will of fire was the driving force of Konoha. It was what helped Konoha's shinobi to get back up after they had been beaten down. It was what let them face opponents that they would lose to, and manage to somehow pull out a win for the village, even if that win cost the ninja his or her life.

Of course, at the time, Naruto had thought that if he could harness that into a jutsu, it would be the most kick-ass thing EVER. Jiraiya had promptly smacked him upside the head, and told him it wasn't something you could put into a jutsu.

Sitting down again, Jiraiya had finally told his student that the will of fire that Old Man Sandaime had always talked about was, at its most basic level, the will to stand back up and try again. Naruto had of course thought that it sounded like a bunch of philosophical babble.

And to be honest, it still did. He had explained it by comparing it to their dying campfire. Picking up a piece of wood, he had tossed the wood onto the flame, and they had together watched as the wood was rapidly consumed. Jiraiya said to Naruto that, whether he realized it or not, he was a good example of the will of fire.

That got the blond's attention very nicely indeed. Jiraiya dove headlong into the analysis, dissecting the blond's fierce desire to stand back up, no matter who or what kicked him down. Of course, he then told the blond that getting back up was only the most basic part of the will of fire, but that would do for the moment.

He had picked up his description of the will of fire several weeks later, after having left Naruto with a particularly nasty logic puzzle. The blond had attempted it for days, unable to find a solution. Finally, Jiraiya picked the blond up by his ankle, and showed him the puzzle again.

That, he said, was the second part of the will of fire. Fire, he had explained, sitting down next to his apprentice, is not just unwilling to lay down and die. It is unrelenting, always on the attack, always trying to find a way around an obstacle or a new solution to the problem at hand. If you put a door in front of a fire, it might try to eat its way through the door, but it'll just come through the window given the chance.

Standing up from his stretching, Naruto's hand strayed down to his pouch and kunai holster, ensuring that the forged steel implements were still in place. Feeling the slight nick in one kunai's ring, he smiled slightly. It was the product of the final lesson he received on the will of fire.

It had confused him at first, why Jiraiya had taken him to the smithy. He could understand that their products were important for a shinobi, but the Sannin couldn't possibly be considering teaching him in using a weapon more complicated than a kunai, could he?

The silver-haired pervert simply stood, watching as the smith diligently stoked the flames of the forge, spending hours to carefully build up the fire until it had reached the peak of its intensity. Then, with equal care, he selected a piece of iron ore, and set it to heat in the flames. Rather than simply letting it heat to a usable temperature, as Naruto had expected, the man stood there, poking and prodding at the ore, constantly ensuring that it was still being heated evenly, yet drawing back once he was sure.

He turned to Naruto, a year into his training with the pervert and with the growth of mind and body to prove it, and told him that the third and fourth 'parts' to the will of fire were to be found in this room by an observant ninja. He said, at his most condescending, that Naruto only had to find the third, and then Jiraiya would point him to the fourth. Heck, he'd even explain them to him.

It hadn't taken Naruto long to touch on the third part, as he declared in his usually overloud manner that it was the forge. Jiraiya chuckled as he nodded, and began to lecture again. Calling back to the chuunin exams from a year and a half ago, he reminded his student how they had said that a chuunin was required to have heaven as well as earth, strength of mind as well as body, to be truly effective.

Looking at his student drolly, Jiraiya connected the dots. The first stage on the will of fire, the strength to stand back up, Naruto had that one down cold. The second stage, however, the drive to find solutions to problems, was most obvious in his friend Shikamaru. Naruto was of earth, and Shikamaru was of heaven. A chuunin required both. At this point he chuckled, and said that Shikamaru was probably finding that out the hard way.

At this point, Naruto had practically snapped at Jiraiya, telling him he'd better not be saying a jounin was like this forge. Jiraiya bopped him again, of course. And then confirmed his suspicions. The jounin, he continued, was embodied by the forge in every way. The flames in the forge were harnessed and controlled, the power of the fire focused on a single task.

An Ekiseijin, as well as a Hokage, was the epitome of the will of fire, an incarnation of that will so great that it could inspire a spark of that same will in those around them. Of course, Jiraiya had said, that wasn't the only requirement for the Ekiseijins, whom ninja of other villages referred to as the Battle Saints.

As Jiraiya had explained it, the other requirement of being an Ekiseijin was a complete and total mastery of the concepts and abilities of one field of ninja combat. Jiraiya admitted that his title was an Ekiseijin of Summoning, partially due to his usage of the Gama summons, but also from his innumerable other techniques that summoned everything from swamps to the esophagus and stomach of a frog.

Tsunade, on the other hand, was an Ekiseijin of Ijutsu. As the literal grandmother of medical ninjas, and the source of approximately 1/3rd of the medical theory in Konoha today, she had well earned the title.

Orochimaru, the only Ekiseijin to ever go rogue while he bore the title, was considered an Ekiseijin of Deceptions, partly because of his ability with plots and stealth. After his betrayal, it was decided no one else would hold that title; it would be done away with after his death, erased from history.

Shaking his head, Naruto stepped out of the room. Glancing around for the medic nin formerly known as Sakura, he took a breath, and did what any rational, skilled shinobi would do in such a situation.

He ran like hell for the exit.

1

Sakura giggled as she watched the blond bolt through the front door, before stepping away from the wall. With a snap, the genjutsu around her dispelled. She briefly considered hunting down her errant teammate, for the sport if nothing else, but decided that no, he had been tortured enough for one hospital visit.

"Keep the bed warm for him." Sakura spun to find herself face to pectoral with the man that she had heard referred to as Baki. Scowling, she reached behind herself for her gloves.

"You planning on putting him back there?" She made sure that the sugar on her words was laced with arsenic.

The man merely chuckled. "Wind may be the most deadly element for combat, but it's the hardest to control. Only one of them that has two distinct stages for learning control, and I don't know how you Leaf ninja do it, but in the Sand, it doesn't matter how good you are, no one's ever been able to stand up properly after the second part of the training." He stepped past Sakura, patting her on the shoulder "Keep the bed warm."

Glancing after him, she contented herself with a stink eye for the jounin before she turned back into the depths of shinobi hell, formerly known as the hospital.

2

Gaara had notified the Konoha shinobi that he had set aside Training Area 8 for their use, and had requested that they restrict themselves to its usage. At first, there had been some complaints, but these complaints had quickly been tabled as the shinobi of Konoha realized that Suna's version of a Training Area was on par, size-wise, with the Forest of Death.

In other words, it had just a little bit of elbowroom. Naruto chuckled as he ran across the invisible boarder of the training area, noting as he did so the very faint change in pressure that seemed to flicker over his skin, as he passed the thin genjutsu barrier that served to warn civilians and ninja alike just what kind of area they were about to enter.

It was one of those things that took considerable time to really begin to understand, as each country used a different type of field, and every field had a different way of warning passers-by what kind of training a given area was designated for. Gaara, however, had been so kind as to tell them what Training Area 8 was designed for.

Heavy Assault Training. In other words, throwing around just about anything from combat-grade genjutsu down to explosive notes and chakra bombs. All in all, Naruto's kind of place.

Glancing up, Naruto channeled a small amount of chakra to his feet, and lunged up and to the right of his location, attaching himself to the side of another one of Suna's innumerable ruined buildings that ran through their training grounds. He watched as a spinning blur of ninja struck the ground where he had been standing a moment before, and shook his head. Of course it would be Kiba who would attack him. Who else had that kind of temper?

Ignoring the little voice at the back of his head that was screaming "YOU, dobe!" he waited for Kiba to redirect the attack, letting the chakra in his feet dispel enough to slide him down the wall, out of the attack's path. Reapplying the chakra, he rushed towards the canine shinobi, fist cocked back.

Kiba stopped drilling almost instantly, applying his own chakra to keep his four-legged stance applied to the wall. Naruto's fist flew towards Kiba, who moved in anticipation, stepping back. Naruto pulled the punch backwards, spreading his hand into a handstand as he gathered the chakra necessary to hold him to the wall. Continuing the momentum, he used the arm as a anchor to kick out hard with his left leg. The Inuzuka ducked under the foot, and was surprised when Naruto, with a series of quick shifts in his hips, shoulder and torso, turned the roundhouse into a heel-drop, planting the foot firmly in between the boy's shoulder blades.

Kiba yelped, and began to fall towards the ground. Quickly reapplying his feet to the wall, Naruto redirected his chakra, and lunged out with his hand, grasping onto the other boy's forearm as he flew past. Grunting as he felt himself begin to slip, he intensified the grasp of his chakra.

Looking up at the Uzumaki, Kiba took a moment to catch his breath and center himself, before he swung his feet up, and with a slightly blue glow, reattached his feet to the wall. "I could have done it without your help!" he declared, before fixing his jacket slightly.

Naruto shook his head, flashing his semi-patented grin at his friend. "That so?"

"Of course! But thanks for the assist in any case." Kiba replied, before glancing back down at the ground. "Forgot to warn you, its all out, anything goes, free for all in here right now."

Naruto laughed. "Works for me."

"It would for me too, if you didn't have something else to do." The Konoha shinobi looked to at the window to Naruto's right, only to see Baki leaning out the window, looking at the blond.

"And what's that?"

"Finishing your wind training."

Naruto snorted. "I already cut your stupid glass. What more do I need?"

"You've learned how to make wind chakra, and focus it to a very keen edge indeed, that much is true. But you still need to concentrate too much for it to really be effective in battle, and the amounts you can control aren't enough to really provide a threat to an enemy at anything more than maybe three feet."

Naruto frowned. That would probably be a problem. "The point being?"

Baki grinned. "The point being, the next part of your training is to teach you how to make and control wind chakra, in large enough amounts to be useful in battle with only a thought."

Naruto felt himself beginning to grin as well. Nothing made him happier than the thought of being able to cause more damage at will. "Lets get to it then!" He said, jumping to his feet.

Of course, Naruto forgot to calculate in his little jump that he was attached to the side of a building, and had none of the momentum that had kept him from becoming victim to gravity's whims during his little spar with Kiba. Thus, he found himself accelerating towards the ground rapidly.

Baki sighed, and reached out a palm. Naruto felt himself land with a jerk on thin-air, several feet above the ground. A little dazed, he listened as Baki yelled down to him. "Eventually, you might even be able to avoid breaking your neck the next time you decide to jump off buildings head first!"

3

Kiba watched as the two shinobi left towards the outside edge of Sunagakure. Shaking his head at the blond ninja, he sniffed at the air again. Catching the scent of strawberry and cherry blossom, he smirked. Bout time she got here. Rushing up the wall, he reached the roof of the building rather quickly.

And was immediately forced to dodge a hail of kunai. Looking up, he saw Tenten standing at the opposite end of the roof, the massive scroll of weapons that she bore on her back already unrolling as she prepared her next barrage.

Unfortunately, Kiba didn't intend to make himself an easy target. With speed that few expected out of the ninken-user, Kiba propelled a knee into Tenten's stomach.

The girl disappeared, as Kiba saw his knee obliterate a portion of roofing. Slamming his leg back down, he immediately lunged to the left, landing on the edge of the roof as another battery of bladed implements hit the general area he had once occupied. Dropping to his Shikyaku stance again, Kiba launched himself at the girl. He watched as Tenten threw a trio of spears at him and with a grin, initiated the twisting motions of the Tsuuga technique.

Konoha's only weapons mistress was could do nothing more than reinforce the chakra in her forearms and brace herself as the technique struck her. Twisting her shoulders slightly in a move that Lee and Gai had shown her, she redirected the attack into the ground next to her.

And instantly regretted it when the section of roof that they were now standing on collapsed out from under them, dropping Kiba and Tenten into the room below.

4

It took almost no time at all for Naruto and Baki to make their way to their destination, which was really little more than an over-glorified hole in the side of Suna's barrier wall. Naruto stepped forward, ready to charge head-long into the room, before Baki's arm shot out to block his path.

"This is what Suna Shinobi call the Crucible, Naruto. It is the only other way into the village besides the Stone Corridor. And quite honestly, for anyone other than a master wind chakra user, it is suicide."

Seeing that he had the blond's attention, he continued. "This path leads to a series of interconnecting canyons that run for miles. Seals run along the sides of the canyon that predate even the earliest records of Sand Shinobi, before the village was founded. Whether because of these seals or something else, there is always a constant level of wind flowing through this canyon. And the further one gets from this entrance, the more intense those winds become. Your task, is to make it as far as you possibly can by the end of two hours."

Nodding, the blond attempted to step past Baki's arm. Again, the arm prevented it. "When you have finished, you will take this soldier pill, and then scale the wall as fast as you can. You'll be running out of chakra quick on the way out, so don't delay." Baki finished, dropping the brown pill into Naruto's hand. The blond nodded before he slipped the pill away.

Nodding again, the blond shinobi stepped past Baki, and made his way into the Crucible. Behind him, Kakashi appeared next to the Suna jounin. "He gonna be alright?"

A snort. "I'm sure he'd be touched by the concern."

"Yeah. He'd probably give me a hard time for it too."

Baki smiled. "I guess I'll have to fill in."

"So generous of you."

"I know."

5

Neji was frankly amazed as he watched with his Byakugan on full power. Very little caught the jounin off-guard when it came to the Jyuuken style, and in fact only the reigning Grand Master, Hiashi himself, could go beyond simply matching Neji and actually 'show him a thing or two' when it came to their family techniques.

Which was why he was more than a little surprised to see his little cousin Hinata in a stance that was only vaguely related to the Jyuuken, sparring furiously with his teammate and 'eternal rival', Rock Lee.

The taijutsuist was using a form that Neji had never seen him use before, but that wasn't entirely unexpected. After having studied under Gai so long, Lee was bound to know at least three or four different styles with almost frightening proficiency. Still, it was somewhat discouraging to see him deftly step into Hinata's shadow after an attack, and turn the momentum of the move into a throw that could easily break the wrist, elbow and shoulder of the attacking arm on a whim of the mini-Gai.

The potential Hyuuga heir was sent flipping over Lee from the throw. Immediately upon hitting the ground, she moved through a shoulder roll and came back to her feet. Not letting all that momentum go to waste, she charged back at Lee, her hands falling into another semi-Jyuuken stance, her hands ready to launch into one of the Jyuuken's chakra strikes as was expected, but held closer to the waist than Neji was used to seeing. As Lee stepped into Hinata's charge with a chopping motion of the arm targeted for her collarbone. He could only watch in amazement as she deftly stepped into the attack, letting the swipe cause her hair to rustle slightly as her hand flashed forward. Lee moved with his previous chop, rolling forward to escape the chakra strike that Hinata had just aimed at his side.

Intent on her prey, and with a confidence that Neji hadn't seen from his cousin before, Hinata took a half step back with her front leg, and then swept the leg that had been behind around, effectively spinning her to face Lee once again. Catching the boy as he stood out of his forward roll, she let the arm at her waist fly forward with the momentum of her spin.

Lee's hand came up, catching Hinata at the wrist and deflecting her palm behind his back as he spun around her outside. Before she could react, he had twisted her arm through bends that Neji didn't know were possible without injuring a person, Hinata was sent flying through the air in a poor attempt to impersonate a bird. Neji could hear the grunt she made upon impact, and was surprised to see her turn the impact into another forward roll.

Turning away, he considered what he had seen, and what it might just mean. Hinata hadn't practiced her Jyuuken much at the house recently, but then again, she had been all but told that she wouldn't be trained in it at home. Nevertheless, he had noted the steadily improving grace and evasive ability of his cousin over the course of the past several years. Whether what he was seeing was improvisation or development of a new style, Neji wasn't sure, but in either case, he decided that at some point in the near future, it might be worth his while to put his cousin to the test, and see how she had improved.

6

Tenten coughed slightly as the dust settled around them. Kicking out reflexively, she was surprised when her foot hit what felt to be the palm of a hand. A palm which closed around the sole of her foot. Looking at said foot, she found herself looking at a grinning Kiba.

'Oh shi…!" was just about all Tenten could think, forget say, before Kiba grasped her ankle with his other hand, and with a quick 180 spin, sent Tenten flying across the open room that comprised the top floor of the building. The girl grunted, pushing a small burst of chakra out of herself to spin, landing her feet against the wall with heavily bent knees. Instinctively pulling the scroll to the length she wanted, she swiped a bit of the blood that was dribbling from a minor cut on her forehead onto the scroll.

Kiba, who had immediately followed up his throw with a charge, found himself charging into a trio of spinning sickles. Eyes widening, he felt his fingers fumble through a Kawarimi, just managing to replace himself with a nearby piece of rubble.

Dropping into Shikyaku again, Kiba felt a pair of familiar scents tickle at his nose suddenly. Strawberry and cherry blossom comprised on scent, and the other was the distinct smells of insect musk and flower honey. Sniffing again, he realized with a sickening feeling that they were coming from below. Launching himself for the opposite wall, he skidded to a stop against it as the lower portion of wall and the ground where he had previously been standing were obliterated, thanks to one of Sakura's punches.

Shino, who had been grasping the wall just above Sakura's misaimed punch, ordered his bugs to hold him to the wall as he swung off of it, ramming his feet into Sakura's upper back. The pink-haired kunoichi rolled with the strike, and seeing the flash of a bladed weapon out of the corner of her eye, ducked underneath the flashing metal of a pair of small throwing axes. Seeing an opportunity, Sakura's hand flashed out and grabbed the handle of one of the axes, before redirecting it at the bug user. Following the motion, she channeled a small portion of chakra into her legs, and jumped back, giving her a clear view of her friends and opponents who formed the other three points of their deadly compass rose.

Shino dropped off of the section of wall that he had been hanging onto until that particular moment, dropping into a crouch to let the axe fly through the airspace he had once occupied undisturbed. Standing for a moment, the four of them simply stared at one another.

A deadly compass rose indeed.

7

Neji decided that he had seen quite enough of his cousin being tossed like a rag-doll by the more experienced and powerful taijutsuist. Channeling his chakra, he jumped down from the rooftop that he was sitting on, a little over two-thirds of a mile from the site of Hinata and Lee's sparring match. Knowing that he was still outside of the range of Hinata's Byakugan, he continued to lunge forward, bouncing off of and over the broken pieces of wall and rubble that stood between himself and the two shinobi.

He was surprised when, by the time he had reached the two of them, Hinata had switched back to the more traditional mode of Jyuuken. Whether it was a lack of confidence in her abilities with the traditional Gentle Fist or simply an act, he could immediately discern the differences in her strikes and movements. Shaking his head, he activated his Byakugan, and wordlessly stepped out to face the two ninja.

Lee made to advance at Neji's challenge, but seemed to think better of it at a glance from the jounin. Hinata sighed, and almost resignedly took up a stance in opposition of her cousin.

Schooling the frown from his face before it could even appear and warn his cousin of his mindset, Neji launched himself.

8

Sakura saw the Kiba's Tsuuga technique come flying at her almost before she had realized the boy was there. His Shikyaku stance was hard to see in this low lighting.

Reacting quickly, Sakura rammed an elbow into the wall, prompting a piece of the roof overhead to come falling down between the two of them. Timing carefully, she lashed out with an open palm, sending the piece of roofing flying at the spinning Inuzuka.

Kiba let out a yip of surprise as he dropped out of his Tsuuga technique and lunged to the right to avoid the piece of roofing. He was forced to duck again as Sakura came flying at him with a simple straight punch. Considering what the girl's strikes could do to a person, blocking was out of the question.

Unfortunately, dodging the reverse roundhouse that immediately followed up on her straight punch was also out of the question, and Kiba found himself flying across the room at Shino. The bug user calmly grabbed onto his teammate's collar, before spinning him around, and tossing him at Tenten.

Unsealing a bo staff, the girl spun the stretch of wood around for a moment before striking Kiba in the stomach with it, planting him firmly into the ground. Grabbing a trio of kunai, she flung them at Sakura before she continued her assault on Kiba. The dog-ninja, possessing very little masochistic tendencies, swept at Tenten's feet, forcing the girl to away from him to avoid. The pause gave him just enough time to regain his footing.

And jump away from another piece of roofing that Sakura had sent flying their way, this time with a trio of kunai that had obviously been Tenten's buried in the side. As Kiba bounced off of the roofing piece, he used chakra to attach himself to the roof, and quickly charged at his teammate, who had until this point done nothing but replace himself with a Kikaichu Bunshin. Kiba, knowing the difference purely based on smell, lunged at the dark corner of the room near where Shino had begun, launching a Tsuuga.

The Shino who had been standing calmly in the gap in the wall disappeared in that instant as Kiba's attack struck at the genuine article. Shino vaulted over the incoming drill attack, before bouncing off of the wall behind himself, and dropping a few dozen bugs on Kiba's back.

The Inuzuka smelt the tang of cold steel and heard the sounds of blades slicing the air before he actually saw the two sai's flying at him. Ducking down, he dodged to the side, before accelerating with his Shikyaku to drive his elbow deep into Tenten's stomach.

Tenten again proved to be an illusion and a piece of rubble, as a trio of shuriken buried themselves into Kiba's back. Kiba proved to be as substantial as the original Tenten.

The real Tenten, meanwhile, found that Sakura was not merely limited to flinging around sections of the dilapidated building that served as their battlefield. As the weapon user sliced at the girl with her katana, she had to be amazed at the effectiveness of Tsunade's training, as Sakura deftly blocked her crescent slash with a kunai, and spun in with a backhand that would easily detach Tenten's head from her shoulders.

Drawing back from the engagement, Tenten stepped back, before she came in on the other side with a slice aimed to cut through Sakura's collarbone, and continue on down through her opposite hip. Of course, the medic would have none of that, as she stepped slightly into the slice, and ducked, allowing the blade to pass through the air she had once occupied. Grabbing Tenten by the forearms, she rolled backwards, putting a foot into her gut, and used momentum and a push of chakra to send Tenten careening into Shino, who had taken to once again sneaking along the far wall of the room.

Sakura took a moment to catch her breath and attempt to locate her third opponent. Kiba was the wrong type to run from a fight until he was pretty much unconscious. And her analysis was proven correct as she caught a blur of Kiba before he drove a hard knee into her stomach. Gasping slightly, she grabbed his leg and arm, before lifting him over her head, and driving him down towards the ground, hard.

The Inuzuka bounced off of the floor for a moment, before he swept at the medic-nin. Jumping over the sweep kick, she found herself a perfect target as Kiba lunged up at her, burying an elbow into her stomach. Grunting again, she grasped his arm, and flung him in the same direction she had previously sent Tenten.

This time, the weapon user and bug ninja were not there to serve as convenient cushions. Sakura cursed as she realized that her other two opponents had moved without her realizing it. Quickly glancing around, she realized with an awful certainty that Shino and his colony of Kikaichu bugs were right above her.

Looking up, Sakura watched as the bug user dropped down on her, aiming for a brutal haymaker. Lunging away from both the insect user and Kiba, she was forced to weave and evade several more strikes by the Aburame, remaining extremely wary of his Kikaichu. For a ninja like Naruto, they weren't much more than an annoyance, but with the minimal chakra capacity that Sakura was in possession of, they could end a fight very quickly indeed.

Jumping further back than was entirely necessary to avoid one of Shino's punches, Sakura landed, as planned, with one of her feet on the end of a piece of rubble set up like a see-saw. Bringing her foot down, she brought the piece of rubble, about the size of her torso, flipping up to chest height. With a trio of well-aimed strikes, she had broken it into four pieces, and sent those pieces to Shino as a sign of the end of their engagement. She was moderately surprised when one of the pieces struck the bug user upside the head, causing him to slump to the side. Quickly moving forward, Sakura ran a quick diagnostic, her two opponents courteously waiting for her to confirm for herself that she hadn't just given the Aburame clan heir a concussion before Tenten moved to attack. Sakura grunted as a pair of shuriken buried themselves into her thigh. Pulling them out, she sent them flying back at the weapons user, not at all surprised when she responded by simply deflecting them out of the air. The slight pause did give Sakura enough time to generate a ijutsu to heal the damage from the shuriken.

And also gave her just enough time to realize that Kiba was over her head, and had just buried an elbow into the back of her head. Falling forward into unconsciousness, Sakura couldn't help but let a curse worthy of Naruto's monologue from the day before slip out.

9

Neji stepped back, raising a hand to indicate a pause in the fight. Of course, such an indicator was entirely unnecessary, he thought with a trace of bitterness. Hinata cannot seem to come at me with the ferocity she came at Lee with.

Sighing, he turned his Byakugan onto his cousin. Observing the flow of Hinata's muscle as she lifted herself off the ground where he had so recently deposited her, Neji saw his first analysis confirmed. In spite of the lack of ferocity and power with which Hinata was approaching their fight, all the signs he knew were present in an effective taijutsuist were present in those muscles. Shaking his head in frustration, he dropped into his Jyuuken stance. Watching Hinata come at him, he decided to see if he might not be able to force her to reveal her abilities. A specter of a smile and a ghost of a nod to himself later, Neji launched his assault.

Hinata saw the first palm strike coming at her shoulder, and with a strike of the targeted hand, she knocked it off-course. Nei's other hand followed up immediately by lunging for he chest, chakra strike aimed for her left lung.

Memory flashed through Hinata's mind, a place three years ago and a Neji who was bitter and defeated by a world that he had yet to truly come to understand. A Chuunin exam that would shatter their village in several ways, and would leave her ill for months after the fact. Remembering the pain of the strike, and the resulting coughing of blood, Hinata decided that no, she was not in the mood for such a repeat.

Shifting back slightly, Hinata spun on her back foot, her hand smacking Neji's chakra-laced strike off course, passing a half-inch from Hinata herself. Breaking the spin at that precise moment, Hinata stepped into her cousin's guard, a Jyuuken strike coming up and IN towards his floating rib.

Neji's eyes widened as he saw the strike pass through his guard seamlessly. Sweeping his arm backwards, he struck Hinata's wrist with his forearm, and jumped back from his cousin's attack.

Looking at the girl, he smiled, and stepped back into his Jyuuken. Tentatively, Hinata readopted the stance that he had seen her using against Lee, and launched her attack again. And suddenly, Neji had no more time for thoughts as the pattern of dodge block strike block riposte parry STRIKE took over at the most instinctive level.

10

Naruto felt his ribs burning as he leaned back against the semi-smooth rock, emitting a layer of chakra to keep the sheer force of the winds from ripping him off of the stone. Taking a deep breath, he glanced over his shoulder. Seeing that the next rock was across the canyon, past two of the feeder chutes, and almost twenty feet away, he sighed. Time to get on with it.

Gathering his chakra, he pushed it into the air in front of him, forcing the air pressure to direct away from him. He grunted as he felt the wind push him further back. Although he had plenty more chakra to throw around, he didn't have the control to focus any more at one time. Dropping back down by the rock, he sighed. And suddenly, inspiration struck. Putting a hand on the side of the rock, he noticed how the winds just blew around the thing, rather than being pushed back by it. Smiling, Naruto popped up to his feet, exhaustion wiped away by the thought of achieving this stupid test.

Pushing the wind chakra into the air in front of him again, he held it as close to his body as he could, turning it into a rounded barrier, rather like the rounded sides of the rock. He smiled gleefully as the winds simply howled past him, leaving the blond unmolested. He began to progress forward.

And grunted again as he dropped down behind the next rock. Damn but this was hard. The two extra chutes had made his rounded barrier of wind into an effective idea, but one in need of refinement. Glancing ahead again, he nearly screamed in frustration.

Three chutes, the rock was in the middle of the path, and it was almost 50 feet away! Someone hated him, and it wasn't just Kyuubi. Something about his present shelter caught his eye. Glancing at it, he grinned as he popped back to his feet and focused his barrier of wind. This time angled rather than flat, a three-sided pyramid that stretched from in front of Naruto to well behind him, his blond body nestled quite comfortably in the midst of the pyramid as it hugged the ground, trying to keep the wind from lifting him off of his feet, an entirely likely possibility.

Charging forward again, Naruto almost reached the next rock before the pressure became too much for the wind he was throwing out. Glancing at the rock, a mere 10 feet away, he pushed forward again. And groaned in at the searing feeling in his arms and shoulders, as the chakra that he pushed through them began to burn his coils. Glancing at one of the feeder canyons, he took a gamble, and stepped inside.

11

"You didn't answer my question." Kakashi said at about that point in time.

"He should be alright. As long as he sticks to the main path."

"Why's that?"

Baki shook his head. "The intensity of the air flow in the feeder canyons isn't nearly as intense as the pressure in the main canyon. However, because of their relatively small size, it doesn't take much airflow to make the pressure not quite unbearable. I've seen damned good ninja crippled by stepping into those feeders."


	35. Preview to the Bloodbath

Warning: Sannin V. Sannin battle, prepare for overblown technique usage and ridiculous fire power. For those who believe that Jiraiya might be just a little overblown in terms of firepower, remember that he's already been established as a grand master of summoning techniques, which have high costs, but also give out considerable punishment for those costs. I mean, Itachi himself said that he, Kisame, and however many of their buddies they cared to bring into the conflict would at best result in a battle where everyone involved dies. My opinion is that Jiraiya has a chakra capacity that would have rivaled Kisame's when he was the Kiri-nin's age. As he's older, his 'spiritual' chakra has grown enough to make his capacity even greater (Spoiler! especially since its been established that Kisame doesn't have a bijuu in him, as we know Akatsuki's plot according to Kishimoto (although my version is different); End Spoiler!)

Chapter 35:

Naruto slipped into the crevice, letting his barrier of wind chakra fall for a second to catch his breath. In that instant, he realized his mistake.

Speaking, screaming, wailing, breathing were all beyond him. The rocks in the wall behind him were driven into his back by the intensity of the winds rushing past him. He could feel his ribcage protesting against the pressure. He could feel the blood begin to run down his arms from the places where rocks had pushed through his skin, before the wind picked up and carried the blood, stopping against his orange and black jumpsuit. He could feel the dull burn of his lungs as the air whipped by him, too fast for a decent breath.

Naruto's eyes began to tear, as he close them tightly against the savage winds. The sheer speed and pressure of the wind felt like a cheese grater being pulled lightly over his skin. Although one time wasn't enough to do much, it began to compile and became more and more painful. Chancing to open an eye, he could see the red of his skin where the wind's pure speed had begun to irritate the flesh.

He wished he hadn't looked into the wind, as he felt the speed begin to press his face into his skull. Grunting, he slowly turned his head, facing into the main body of the canyon. The wind on the back of his neck began the process of rubbing his skin into non-existence as his spiky blond hair was lashed into his eyes by the wind's ferocity. He could hear the whistling as the wind blew past the shell of his ear, and could feel the sheer force of the wind as it tried to pull of his ear.

Considering the situation, Naruto decided it was time to figure out how to get out of this, and NOW!

1

Neji grunted with the effort of blocking as his cousin slipped by his side, her flowing, precision strikes rolling around his guard like it barely even existed. He noted absently that Lee had taken off to who knows where, but found that he wasn't all that concerned. His little cousin was giving him enough problems as it was.

After observing her fight with Lee, Neji had thought himself well prepared to face this variation on the standard Jyuuken. It wasn't at all unheard of really; although most of the clan's elders frowned on the practice. He hadn't heard of a Main house ninja creating even a minor variation on the style, let alone a variation as drastic as what he was fighting.

Nevertheless, Neji had to admit that his little cousin's fluid style worked well. He was rarely pushed this hard by a variation on the Jyuuken. He had fought more than a few variations that members of the Branch house had built to get around their own weaknesses. It was Hinata's status as a member of the Main house that made this change in her fighting style so unusual. Considering the close watch that was usually kept on the members of the Main house, he was surprised no one had heard of it before.

Of course, he had to admit that the Main house had all but ostracized Hinata years ago. He grunted as he felt a pair of tenketsu in his arm be shut down. It was no wonder that Hinata's shift in style had gone unnoticed.

Neji was broken from his musing by a fan kick to the head. Flipping with the momentum of the kick, he let his hand hit the ground in a one-armed cartwheel. Seeing Hinata lance an arm at his stomach, aiming for tenketsu that Neji couldn't afford to lose if he wanted to keep in the fight, he brought one of his knees down, striking Hinata's attacking arm in the wrist with his knee, as his other leg tilted back to make up the difference in balance. Pushing off with his arm to give himself some room, he dropped to a kneeling stance on the ground, before launching himself at Hinata again.

He smiled as his cousin saw the incoming thrust. Stepping into the oncoming arm, he saw her push the striking arm away, her stance coming to an exact mirror of his own for a moment before she spun, aiming for a Tenketsu right around the level of his solar plexus.

Neji pushed away from his cousin with a chakra infused lunge. Breaking the potentially dangerous momentum with a roll, he turned to face her, and gave her another smile. Taking his Jyuuken, he motioned for her to bring it on.

2

Sunagakure's infirmary was located conveniently close to the Training Areas. Taking a furtive glance around once again, Tsunade shook her head at the establishment. Efficient to the point of sterility, straight forward, effective and completely without frill or distraction. It was the epitome of Kuni no Kaze architecture. To Tsunade, a native, and although rarely mentioned as such, noble of Kuni no Ho and Konohagakure itself, she found its geometrically precise design and sandstone coloring to be bland and oppressive.

Whatever her aesthetic opinions, however, Tsunade couldn't deny a good idea when she saw one, particularly in the field of medicine. And situating a clinic that was fully stocked with all the possible necessities to deal with injuries that ninja might acquire in combat or training close enough to the Training Areas to actually be useful was not only the incarnation of a Suna-nin's practicality, it made damned good sense. She made a mental note to see about doing something similar for Konohagakure.

Of course, she would have to get BACK Konohagakure first. And before she could even consider doing that, she had to make sure that her foolish little apprentice and those of her friends that had already been brought in hadn't busted themselves up too much. Of course, as the sadistic sensei that she was, she had decided that she would leave Sakura's injuries for the girl herself to deal with. They weren't that severe, and she might as well learn how to start patching herself up now. After all, it wasn't like she'd have another medic there to fix her if she got injured in the field.

Turning to the Suna ANBU, she asked for the location of her erstwhile teammate, and occasional drinking budy, Jiraiya. A quick radio communication between ANBU, and several minutes later, and she had the answer. Nodding her thanks, she departed for the far corner of Training Area 8.

Lunging through the Training Area, she slowly began to feel Jiraiya's chakra saturating the air. The refined senses of a long-time chakra user twitched, the proverbial nose of a bloodhound as she tracked her teammate to his little hidey-hole. Coming to a stop on top of a building, she crouched down, and watched with a spark of interest. It had been a long time since she had really seen Jiraiya in action like this.

Jiraiya's style of fist fighting had never been very refined. Simple yet effective, it was the street brawling style that was fairly common among the orphans who all too often became shinobi, only to be killed within two years of becoming Genin. It was the kind of style that Naruto himself had used for so long, although the Toad Sennin, who had always been built along the lines of a brick wall, was far better designed to make it work. The blond was just too lanky for the kind of purely muscle-based brawling that his sensei and mentor was presently executing to great effect.

Most of the time, ninja would utilize chakra for enhanced movement, speed, or defensive ability by increasing the ambient levels in a portion of the body. By focusing on specific types of muscles, a ninja could increase the ambient levels, and therefore the power, of muscles for increased movement speed or increased power in their attacks. By focusing on the skin, bone, and vital areas, the ninja could increase the ambient levels of chakra in these areas, making them somewhat more resilient to attacks. Each of the Sannin had developed (or inherited) an improvement on these basic methods of chakra enhancement.

Tsunade's revolved around not only building up chakra in the limb, but focusing most of it into the fist, elbow, or other part of the body that was to make impact with an opponent, and then by training her precision chakra control to the proper timing, she could release a massive burst of chakra at the exact moment of impact. The result was that the bunshin count she poured into the strike would serve as a multiplier on whatever force her strike would have normally carried.

Orochimaru would use his chakra to bridge the infinitesimally small gaps between neurons, allowing his body to receive imputs and react to them faster than was normally achieveable. He stacked on top of this extra chakra at the ends of his muscle fibers, tuned so that the reaction speed of the muscles was faster than normally achievable. It was not a technique that was as control-focused as Tsunade's, nor as energy-intensive as Jiraiya's, but it had required a powerful mind indeed to devise how to achieve it without injury to the nervous system, or the body. It had also required a better level of control than Jiraiya could have accomplished with his own abnormally large reserves (although nothing in comparison to his blond apprentice) and a larger chakra supply to make effective use of than Tsuande had to spare.

Jiraiya had taken his massive chakra reserves, and made them work for him. Rather than increasing the ambient chakra, which was a fairly passive defense, he would actively feed chakra into and around the skin, bones and organs, filling the miniscule gaps between cells with chakra, reinforcing the natural structure of the body's design, and providing a defensive 'layer' around the body parts in question. The result was that without a weapon, the strength to overpower his defense, or the speed to strike before he could register the attack and reinforce the body part in question, striking Jiraiya hand to hand was like punching a block of iron.

Tsunade watched with a measured gaze as Jiraiya systematically began to dismantle a brick wall. At some level, she supposed that it was to be expected. Jiraiya had always had an unnaturally high chakra supply, his techniques relied upon it, and his students all shared that mixed blessing, although none as much as his present apprentice. Watching with interest, she felt Jiraiya's chakra shift slightly, and raised an eyebrow as the air around his fists began to super-heat. The bricks began to crack before his hands even reached them, as the heat surrounding his fists surpassed anything the sandstone blocks had been made to withstand.

Tsunade to this day had never been able to replicate the technique that Jiraiya was using to aid in his demolishing the defenseless brick wall. The ability to take chakra and surround the fist with it to improve the damage of a punch was no new concept, although difficult for many ninja to achieve on a whim. Using elemental chakra to do so was thought impossible until Jiraiya had discovered the trick to a long time ago. And of course, it proved to be something reliant upon a chakra capacity that very few shinobi could really consider feasible.

In reality, it relied upon the techniques he used to reinforce his body's structural stability to make it work. The trick, he had explained in a breathlessly excited voice once he had figured it out, was to use chakra to reinforce the body's structure until the elemental chakra wouldn't cause damage, and then wrap a layer of elemental chakra over the hand. It was the kind of technique only Jiraiya would think up, and like most of his crazy ideas, it actually worked.

Okay, not most. But at least half…one third…one out of ten? Twenty? Whichever it was, Tsunade shook her head, and returned to watching her teammate assist in the demolition of defenseless buildings.

3

Move. Move. Move. MOVE. MOVE!

Naruto felt his arm jerk off of the rocks in the canyon wall. With a grunt of effort and pain, ignoring the blood that ran down the spiked limb, he brought it over to his other arm. Grasping at the wrist, and with a concerted effort, he had both hands free. Bringing them into a familiar cross-shaped seal, he focused the chakra that the technique called for, channeling it into a tightly focused stream, just enough to form one Kage Bunshin. Pushing the stream out and around the corner, he tried with all his might to coalesce the stream just behind the rock that was further down the canyon, the one he had been so valiantly fighting towards. Feeling he was close enough, he finished off the technique.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu." He muttered, before his hands flew through another set of seals. Mentally throwing a thin line of chakra, which formed into an impromptu lasso connecting himself to his clone, he finished the jutsu. Instantly, the chakra jerked the clone and Naruto out of their respective places, flipping itself so that the two's positions were switched before the chakra 'lasso' ran out of power and disappeared.

Naruto quickly realized that something was wrong. His first indication of this was not that he was no longer on the ground. It was not that he could see the rock he had been aiming for getting further and further away. It wasn't even his close encounter with the rock he had most recently hidden behind.

No, it was the fact that he was upside down, and his close encounter had been avoided only because he jerked his head out of the way at the last moment. Quickly throwing up a wind 'shield' he felt the pressure dispense. And immediately found another problem. He could either break the fall with his hands, which would require the use of his still injured arm muscles, or he could break the fall with his head, which would possibly render him unconscious, and thus at the mercy of the brutal winds.

Deciding that being conscious was definitely the better answer, he thrust his arms out towards the ground. Pumping chakra into the limbs, he coated the bones and muscles, hoping that the wounded limbs would hold long enough for him to get back to his feet. Using chakra to reinforce injured limbs was a trick Jiraiya had been rather insistent on his apprentice learning how to do. Naruto had never much seen the point, considering his healing factor, and Jiraiya hadn't been near patient enough to explain the logic to his apprentice, instead just ordering him to get on with it.

Of course, Naruto wasn't about to complain now, as he felt the chakra-reinforced limbs surprise him by holding his weight. Dropping out of the handstand, he made his way to the nearest rock, and dropped to his back. Ensuring that his chakra was sufficiently anchoring him to the piece of stone, he dropped the wind barrier, and simply reveled in the blissful feeling of his ribcage slowly returning to its normal size, removing some of the pressure from his heart and lungs. It was a slow, painful process, but he wasn't going to complain. He had, after all, survived his gamble.

4

Jiraiya sighed as he let the chakra dissipate from around his fists. Looking at the pile of rubble in front of him with a touch of pride, he reached up behind himself, and cracked his neck. Wasn't even out of breath. Not too bad for a man of just past sixty years old, if he did say so himself.

"You know that's bad for your health." Said Tsunade, as Jiraiya cracked his knuckles again, just to irritate her.

"And here I thought I was the one who did all the peeping." Jiraiya said, glancing back at the blond Hokage. "Seems I was wrong about that."

Tsunade scowled for a moment. Stomping a foot, she watched with thinly veiled glee as Jiraiya was forced to jump out of the way of the crack in the ground that threatened to swallow him for his impertinence.

"Come here, my dear Jiraiya. Lets play doctor." Tsunade turned to her teammate, watching as the white-haired pervert threw her a copy of his trademarked Jiraiya Pervert Leer v. 87.3.1. Falling into his normal taijutsu stance, he rushed towards Tsuande.

The blond grinned at the suicide charge. Waiting patiently for her pray to pass the point of no return, she raised her leg, and brought it down in a heel drop of earth-shattering proportions.

Jiraiya's Iwa Bunshin served as a good testament to that fact, as the rocks and rubble split apart into nothing. Flipping up and over as Jiraiya's fist tore through where she had been a moment before, she struck out at the back of his head with a kick of her right leg.

The lecher ducked, as she had expected. Reaching up with his right hand, he grasped her leg with first one, then both hands. Not allowing her to regain her footing on the ground, he quickly used the power of his shoulders and the twist that he had had to make to grab her with both hands to fling her through the air.

Tsunade landed lightly on the ground, giving a little twirl to turn herself back to Jiraiya.

"You done warming up?" The Toad Sennin inquired.

"Of course, you?"

"You watched me warm up for half an hour, what do you think?"

Tsunade growled. Giving Jiraiya an appraising look, she dropped to the ground, driving her chakra-laden fist into the earth below.

Jiraiya realized at the moment of impact that her fist had made its approach at an angle, no more than three or four degrees. He hadn't seen her do that before, and wondered what she was up to. His answer came almost instantly afterwards, as the ground in front of her began to crack buckle, jagged edges jumping up or collapsing into the newly made gaps. His eyes widened as the buckling earth rapidly began to make its way towards him, the effect getting more pronounced and spreading further as it got further and further away from Tsunade.

Jiraiya sighed as he jumped almost straight up, knowing that he was walking right into Tsunade's fist. As the Godaime's hand drove through where his chest should have been, she realized that, yet again, Jiraiya had pulled a trick out of his ass. Landing easily on top of one of the pieces of upturned rock, she looked up, and saw the Gama Sennin standing on top of one of the buildings of the training area. She saw him drop out of sight for a moment, and was instantly wary.

Summon techniques came in a wide variety of flavors and effects. The most well known were the summoning techniques that called for creatures to aide a ninja, although they were by no means the only form, and were the only one that required blood. Quite a few high level jutsus were very basic summon techniques, such as the Suiryudan or Karyu Endan, which both summoned a young dragon and sent it after a particular target. They were effective, but extremely limited in their purposes

Jiraiya had his fair share of such techniques, but he had many 'summon' techniques that were far more versatile. She wondered for a moment if he had for some reason summoned one of the smaller frog summons, and then dismissed the thought. Anything so small that she wouldn't have seen it was unlikely to last long in a conflict between the two of them.

She felt the piece of ground she was standing on shift. Instinct overpowered reason by way of executive order and experience, and Tsunade was up and out of the way just in time to see the massive rock 'shark' snap its jaws shut on the space she had just recently occupied. The pile of rocks dispelled itself as she rushed at Jiraiya's location, straight up the side of a wall. The silver-haired ninja jumped off of the building, flipping to face her back as he passed her by. She turned just as he finished his seals and silently mouth the jutsus name. Slamming his hands together twice, he drew them apart the second time. She saw a field of silver energy begin to build between them, and her eyes widened as she recognized the technique.

Reaching behind herself, Tsunade grasped the edge of the building, and whipped herself over the edge onto the roof before making tracks for the other edge of the roof. A moment latter, a blast of hundreds of siver meteors slammed into the part of the roof she had been occupying moments before.

Frowning, she looked at the devastation. Her teammate was firmly in control of this battle at the moment. He knew that she couldn't take him on at long range, considering her relative lack of effective distance jutsus. He also knew that she could dominate the fight if it came to close range combat. Hell, she'd nearly killed him in hand-to-hand once or twice before. His summon techniques had a short preparation time, as each of them had requirements that had to be fulfilled for use. That kind of prep time she could take advantage of if she could get close enough.

Jiraiya stood, warily waiting for 'Princess Tsunade' to make her move. It wasn't the kind of courtesy that they would expect in combat, but this was training and it wasn't like either of them were in the same kind of condition that they had been years ago. Tsunade had gone from inactive to sitting behind the Hokage's desk, and he doubted that she had gotten as much training time as she could use because of that.

He, on the other hand, had been training an absurdly powerful jinchuuriki for three years, and although it wasn't the best work out physically, the boy's prankster mentality and, unique, approach to things made him a devastating opponent who could keep even Jiraiya at least somewhat alert in battle. Looking up, he paled slightly as he saw something flying at him from over the building Tsunade had been standing on.

He didn't know they came that big.

Quickly flashing through a Kawarimi, Jiraiya found himself out of the path of deadly boulders, and in the path of a deadly kunoichi. The first to bear the title Hokage. His teammate.

She was grinning savagely, as her hands glowed a slight blue, and Jiraiya quickly made a sign to ward himself against evil. This was going to be ugly.

5

Kuchiyose: Yurasu-fuka – Summon: Rock Shark - A shark constructed of rock and stone projects out of the ground, striking at the opponent from below. The jutsu requires a small piece of rock to serve as a medium, which will begin to break as the technique's duration wears on. The chakra channeled into the technique through the ground must be channeled through the rock at the same time.

Kuchiyose: Shiruba Ryuuseiu – Summon: Silver Meteor Shower– an 'alternate dimension' is temporarily opened between the users palms by creating a web of chakra strings to provide a framework for the portal. By pumping chakra into the strings, portions of this 'alternate dimension' are given a temporary form as meteorites of silver energy, and sent speeding at the user's target.


	36. Operation Bloodsoaked Symphony – Fanfare

Cue the music, dim the lights, pull up a chair and pop some popcorn. Its time for the first saga in _By These Fists_. At this point, we can say with some certainty that the fic shall pick up pace and intensity.

Chapter 36: Bloodsoaked Symphony – Fanfare

Dawn came quickly that day, wrapping the village of Konoha in crimson embrace. Under that color-bleaching redness, teams of Root and ANBU loyal to Danzou patrolled the streets of the market district in pairs. Given the small size of the force, even that was more than would be normal.

The boarders of the clan districts were patrolled by full platoons.

Nonetheless, Danzou smiled to himself as he stood on the rooftop of the Hokage tower. In a briefing hall that stood a full half the length of the village from his location, he knew that two of his handpicked apprentices and personal guards, Sai and Te, were briefing their 25 platoons of Roots and ANBU. Within an hour, the force of 100 Konoha Black Ops Shinobi would be on their way, headed for the location that Te had so recently provided them, the location of the Sound village. Once there, his students and apprentices would make good his final victory over that fool Sarutobi and his legacy. If all went according to plan, then by the end of the week, the only shinobi left alive with any ties to Konoha would be the ones in the village, and in that force of 100.

The dawn's blood-soaked fingertips were quite prophetic, really. Soon blood that was once of Konoha would freely soak the ground of some distant battlefield. And when it was over, Danzou would be all that was left standing.

Its good to be the Hokage.

1

In spite of his title as Masshakage, and the disastrous spiral that followed Operation Bloodsoaked Symphony, Danzou was an intelligent and powerful shinobi during his time. A fact commonly known that has fallen into obscurity is that his previous bid for the position of Sandaime Hokage, a bid which came within 10 votes of success. Danzou, more than any other influence during Sandaime's reign, is what caused much of the man's problems with the council. Having achieved his post without the overwhelming majority that both his predecessors met with, and with his primary rival for the post still standing in direct opposition to many of his policies after his achieving the position of Hokage, a difficulty which neither his original successor the Yondaime (whose opponents of Orochimaru and Hiashi Hyuuga either left the village, or were themselves not particularly interested in the post) nor the Godaime (who faced no serious opposition, as the only other candidate, Jiraiya, was entirely uninterested in the post), would be forced to deal with. It was not until the Rokudaime that another shinobi ran the risk of being in such a position, and in his case the resolution is well known, and need not be delved into.

Danzou's decision to deploy a hundred of his personal shinobi forces to the site of Operation Bloodsoaked Symphony was tactically and strategically a wise option. The size force should have been sufficient to wipe out the remaining shinobi of both the Sound and the Konoha rebellion, and by doing so, deal with all of Danzou's major opponents in one swoop. Suna, considering its disastrous loss three years before, and the loss of international prestige from this defeat, would not be willing to challenge Konoha again, particularly with the international knowledge of their rapidly strengthening treaty with the village.

Of course, in shinobi battles, all it takes is a few powerful shinobi at the right place to tilt the entire balance. As a Konoha shinobi, Danzou knew very well that one of Konoha's greatest strengths was the incredible number of shinobi who could cause such a tilt that they produced with each generation. With such in mind, Danzou took care to account for all of these shinobi that he could.

Of course, primary among those shinobi to account for were the deposed Godaime Tsunade, the Seal Master and Summoning Ekiseijin Jiraiya, and the Forbidden Researcher and Deception Ekiseijin Orochimaru. The three shinobi of the Sannin could easily cause havoc with Danzou's strategic assault if they were allowed to roam uncontained, yet it would take a force of nearly equal size to what he had already committed to really ensure that all three would be fully distracted from the battle. Thus, Danzou's plan was simple, risk, yet foolproof; allow the Sannin and their legendary enmity to take them out of the equation, waiting until they were irrevocably involved in their own long-standing conflict before his own shinobi became involved.

Following the legendary might of the Ekiseijin came those shinobi who bore the title of Jounin. Of these, there were only a few whom Danzou truly saw as threats; the Copy Ninja, Hatake 'Sharingan' Kakashi; The Lady of the Veil, Yuuhi 'Dreams-eye' Kurenai; the Captain of the Guardian Ninja, Sarutobi 'Deadeye' Asuma; the self-proclaimed Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha, Maito 'That nutjob in spandex' Gai; The Mind Breaker, Morino Ibiki; Mitarashi 'Serpent's Venom' Anko; and the man known simply as Yamato. The plan in regards to these shinobi was the same as that for the Ekiseijin, wait until the battle had them so deeply involved that they could not extricate themselves enough to really aide their fellows, then crush them. The plan was flawless from the intel Danzou had.

Danzou, as a senior shinobi, had been aware that intel wasn't perfect, especially in this kind of situation. However, Danzou was confident that no shinobi under the rank of jounin would truly be able to offer a challenge to his Root and ANBU forces. After all, the average Root shinobi was on par with a high-level chuunin or a Special Jounin, and ANBU could routinely match Jounin in open combat. A force over 100 strong comprised of such strength should have been sufficient. This confidence that only jounins could cause any appreciable depletion of his forces, would serve as the first note to his funeral dirge.

This is not to say that Danzou's confidence was necessarily misplaced. After all, it was not until the end of the war that the members of Konoha's Dozen Saints themselves realized what precisely they were becoming.

2

The predawn light that was just starting to touch on Sunagakure's buildings found itself dancing across the malachite eyes and vibrantly pink hair of one Haruno Sakura as she paused momentarily outside the room of one Konoha Chuunin in particular. She knew that he was most likely up already, well on his way through his own pre-mission preparations. In all honesty, this quiet check on her teammates had become part of her own ritual in the years between Sasuke and Naruto's departures, and Naruto's return.

It gave the ritual all the more poignancy when she allowed herself the thought that followed that one. If all went well today, then the next time she performed this ritual, she would be checking on three teammates. The thought was forced from her mind almost as soon as it formed, Sakura couldn't afford to let anything distract her at this point. There was a long way to go before Sasuke was with them again, and a lot of things that could go wrong.

Knocking softly, she waited patiently for some form of response. A soft poof-pop occurred just behind the pinkette.

She could still remember when Naruto was brought to the medical clinic after his brutal experience in what Baki had called the Crucible. The majority of the major injuries on the blond's person had already healed or were well on their way, the only real problem he seemed to be suffering from was a lack of chakra, and in Naruto's case, that was a problem that was anything but slow to rectify.

After Sakura, Rin, and Tsunade had finished reaming Naruto, Kakashi, Baki, Kakashi again, Baki again, Naruto again, Gaara (until he subtly reminded them that he WAS still the Kazekage and they WERE in his village.) Kakashi again, Baki and then Naruto again, Kakashi had asked Naruto how he had gotten quite so banged up. After Naruto explained that he had stepped into one of what Baki called feeder canyons, and after Baki explained exactly why that was such a bad idea (prompting another round of reaming by the medic trio) Kakashi had asked how Naruto had escaped. After his explanation of having precision-placed a Kage Bunshin and then using Kawarimi with it, the room was filled with little more than a stunned silence.

It was broken as Jiraiya, who was leaning in the doorway, began to quietly chuckle. In a tone of voice that Sakura had never known the voyeuristic shinobi was capable of using, had explained his recently constructed theory. Naruto, he decreed, was slower than most any other shinobi in the room to learn a given jutsu, (this had prompted the almost expected outburst from Naruto, and Sakura's immediate knock upside the head – and subsequent repairs of any damage caused). However, Naruto's slower learning speed was merely a price to be paid for another, possibly more useful ability. In short, he learned techniques slower because he learned not just how to perform a jutsu, but why and, more importantly, how they worked the way they did. Because he learned the how and why of every jutsu he learns, Naruto had an incredible talent for manipulating jutsus into doing things most couldn't dream of. Such as the ability to create a Kage Bunshin at a location that was at least 25 feet away from the user, and around a blind corner; or the ability to use a Kawarimi to assume the location of a moving object. Jiraiya shook his head as he looked at his apprentice, a rueful grin splitting his lips. He had admitted at that point that he had never seen Naruto perform either trick, much less do them both in such rapid succession.

The blond had thrown out a devil-may-care grin, and promply had passed out, now that someone had acknowledged that he had done something truly earth-shaking. Since that time, Naruto had taken every opportunity to not only practice his manipulation of jutsus he already knew, but to try and find out what he could do with other jutsus. What had once been an unconscious talent that made him Konoha's Number One Surprising Shinobi was rapidly becoming a powerful ability that he called upon at will.

Sakura was amazed at the improvement he had been making using his Kage Bunshins for training. She had been informed of the training method, of course. As the team medic, it was the kind of information she would have to know, as it was not at all unlikely that she would have to deal with Naruto after the mental fatigue at some point in their careers. Naruto's ability with Kage Bunshin had always been defining, so it was only fitting.

Turning to the blond, she felt her eyes widen slightly. Although it was far from the first time she had seen a shinobi topless, much less Naruto, she still was surprised to see the finely formed, lithe musculature that would almost seem more at home on a dancer or gymnast than a professional shinobi warrior/martial artist. Of course, when Sakura thought about it, the fighting style that Naruto had been working in recently seemed to be as much dance or gymnastics as it was actual combat, although its effectiveness couldn't be denied.

"You checking up on me, or checking me out?" the blond clone's tone was slightly mirthful. Sakura saw the dozens of tiny muscles tense in readiness, as the clone prepared to avoid one of Sakura's megaton punches.

Deciding not to let all that beautiful muscular movement go to waste, she threw him the slightly feral grin that Jiriaya had once told Naruto only a kunoichi could really do correctly. No other type of woman had the finely honed killing intent to get that particular predator's grin right. "Both; you ready?" The question was immediately followed by a punch towards the center of the clone's mass. At this range, he wouldn't be able to completely dodge.

She was more than a little impressed when the clone reached out, using her arm as a brace to roll over her shoulder, pushing the punch into the ground her he had been standing. Both knew that neither was really giving this the effort that they would have to in an actual fight, but then again it wasn't a fight. It was a reflex test, and Naruto's clone had passed. Any lasting injuries or side effects from his intensive training with Jiraiya and Kakashi, would have carried over to his Kage Bunshin. Kakashi, as the only remaining shinobi of Konoha who used the Sharingan, had made it clear that the training was only partially to perfect Naruto's newly discovered talents. As Naruto was going to shortly be fighting Uchiha Sasuke, who was a master of the Sharingan, and would at some point in time be guaranteed to come up against Uchiha Itachi, whose Sharingan was even more powerful than Sasuke's, he had to learn not only how the Sharingan worked, but also how to fight against it.

He had gone one better. Having grown to understand the basic premise of the Sharingan, and how as it grew it extended this basic premise into more advanced, aggressive, forms, he had put his talent for manipulating jutsus to very good use indeed. At some level, Sakura was almost looking forward to this fight; they would finally be able to prove to Sasuke, once and for all, that they were not weights that would merely hold him back. Hell, if he really wanted revenge on his brother, Naruto was practically an Itachi-magnet; if Sasuke stuck around long enough, he would have his chance. (AN: I don't like putting these into my text often, but in this one case it's a necessity. Naruto has NOT reverse engineered the Sharingan, although what Naruto's talent boils down to is a talent for reverse engineering jutsus; that is to say, taking the finished product and breaking it down to the component parts so that he can manipulate them in various ways, producing either slight changes (oodama rasengan) or massive changes (you'll see))

Spinning in a rapid backhand, she watched as clone-Naruto ducked under the strike, before she followed with a roundhouse from the far side. Clone-Naruto's face was completely unphased just before the strike caught him at just above his elbow, causing him to disappear in a cloud of smoke. She frowned at that. Sasuke had always been faster than either Naruto or herself, but she hadn't realized that Naruto was also that much faster than her, that his clone had known he could dodge that follow-up roundhouse if he had needed to.

In any case, the real Naruto was probably dressed by this point, so she should be expecting the door to open in three… two… now.

On cue, the door behind her opened, and Sakura found herself looking at the shinobi who had only-Kami-knew how many times over earned the title of Konoha's Number One Ninja at Surprising People; Uzumaki Naruto. The most recent surprise that she knew of was his change in garments. Nothing drastic; in reality it was probably done in response to the biting heat of the desert, as his black and orange jumpsuit tops had all mysteriously become vests one day, the edge of the tops having been very carefully and cleanly sown into simple, yet effective hems.

"Satsified?" Naruto asked, as he met his teammate's gaze. She smiled that same semi-feral grin.

"For the moment." Sakura felt the words slip out of her, and for a brief moment wondered what was going on with her mouth today. First admitting to Naruto's clone that she was checking him out, knowing very well that the original Naruto would get the information the moment the clone was dispensed with, and now she was semi-hitting on him, in the hallway, before the very mission that would bring Sasuke back.

She looked at Naruto for a moment, and saw the heavily guarded thoughts dance behind his eyes. He was doing that exact same math. Whether he was wondering what she was doing, if she was using him as practice for when Sasuke came back, or was hedging her bets, Sakura couldn't' tell. She could see, however, that whichever option he chose, he didn't like it very much.

The pair of them pushed the thoughts away almost simultaneously, before Sakura carried on. "If you've got everything under control, I'm going to go check on Kakashi." The blond nodded, and his long-term teammate turned, and bustled away. Naruto caught himself, watching that part of her walk away was not something he needed to do right before a mission. Particularly not this mission, he couldn't afford that kind of distraction in this fight. It could easily prove fatal.

With a shake of the head, Naruto closed his door, and turned back to what he was doing before. Although it wasn't a habit he had taken up before, he found that with the sleeves removed from his tunic, the winds he controlled could be hard, and sometimes painful where they lashed at his arms, Baki had admitted that this was part of the reason that most wind users preferred to use some sort of tool to serve as a focus, as with a sword or dagger it was easier to keep the wind on just the blade, where with the hands there was an extra issue of worrying about the wind coming after the user's arms.

That was how Naruto found himself wrapping his hands and half of his forearms in black linen bandages, before slipping on a pair of the fingerless gloves shinobi preferred. And only a fool would ask what color Naruto used for these gloves. The gloves firmly in place, Naruto balled a hand into a fist, staring at his closed hand for a moment. Drawing his fist back by his hip, he swung, letting his hand open as it came parallel to his chest. A ripple of air moved, and he saw a small line carve itself into the target on the wall. Nodding to himself, he closed his fist again, locking his gaze on the closed fingers. He would bring Sasuke back this time. Even though it would probably cost him everything.

3

Kakashi shook his head as his pink-haired student strode away, this particular part of her pre-mission rituals complete. He understood, really. It was part of being a medic ninja, it was easy for them to grow almost possessive of their teams; and assuring themselves of the status of 'their charges' was almost as instinctive as breathing for medics. He had grown to learn this after his stint being teamed with a certain medic ninja of some power.

A certain medic ninja that, if his nose wasn't finally failing him after twenty-some-odd years, was rapidly approaching his room. Listening, he heard soft footsteps approaching the corner. Looking up, he saw Omoima Rin round the corner. Sighing, he prepared himself for another round with the medic ninja.

It had become almost ritual for them over the past several months. Every couple of weeks, she would come by, saccharine sweet and playful, before she found another quality in her former teammate that had, in her opinion, turned for the worse. Last time it was his proclivity for A and S-ranked assignments, the time before that, she had gone after his precious Icha Icha!

"Hey Kakashi!" Rin said, as she stepped up to the silver-haired jounin. He sighed. "Rin, I don't need this now. We're supposed to be moving out by mid-afternoon, and I've still got a half-dozen things to do." Nonetheless, Kakashi stepped back slightly as Rin closed the distance between the two of them, placing himself so that he couldn't be readily driven into a wall if Rin decided she had the desire to do so again. The door to his room stood securely closed to his right hand side as Rin leaned against the closed panel.

"Aww… Don't be like that. Its not like I'm gonna be staying here or anything." A slight pout tugged at Rin's lower lip at Kakashi's biting retort. He frowned, that pout was rapidly becoming a sign for him. A big one with red lettering; warning all who pass by here to abandon all hope.

"Yes, but I've still got to figure out what to do with the genin; its not like we can bring them to this." Kakashi shook his head at the thought. He understood that Tsunade needed her lieutenants to delegate some decisions to, but this one was one of the more troubling ones, and he couldn't really put himself to the other issues until he got this one settled.

"See if Gaara has some missions to keep them busy, I'm sure he'll understand; and its not like its hurting Suna too much to be able take a few more missions at a time, even if they're lower-ranked ones."

Kakashi frowned. It was a thought, he'd have to delegate a few jounins to stay behind to observe them, but that wasn't difficult, and he had quite a few jounins who could be trusted to do the job, Ebisu being top on the list. "And what of the field hospital? Normally I'd say Shizune should do the set-up, but she's not here, and although Sakura's competent, she needs at least another half-decade's experience before she goes setting up field hospitals on her own, an hour before battle." Kakashi shook his head "Besides, I couldn't keep her out of this one if I chained her to a mountain."

Rin frowned at this. "Hello, Senior Medic Ninja to Hoseisan. I've done that before, several times. When are you going to remember that I AM a ninja still Kakashi." The brunette demanded, her purple cheek stripes standing out brilliantly against her slowly reddening cheeks.

Kakashi frowned. So that was her chosen topic for today, was it? He couldn't afford to deal with this, not right before a mission, particularly not this mission. This was his chance to make up for his mistakes in handling his team, and Kami knows he made more than a few. Unfortunately, Kakashi had yet to find a method to shut Rin down once she reached the point where her cheeks started to turn colors. He watched her eyes flash, and knew the rant was ramping up to begin. He had to stop this now.

A crazy thought entered his mind, and decided that it was just insane enough to follow-up on. Darting forward, he grasped her shoulders, and turned her so that she was pressed up against his door. Positioning his leg between hers, he pressed firmly up, causing her to yip in surprise. Reaching up, he grasped his mask with one hand, pulled it down, and crashed his lips against Rin's, using his knee and the door and his arms to pull her higher up, making the distinction between their heights less of an issue, although it wasn't really much of one to begin with.

Rin's hands came to life, and Kakashi felt his brain begin to fog over. One of his hands worked free of holding Rin and found the doorknob. As Kakashi staggered through the door with Rin, kicking it closed as he passed through it, he realized that A: it was harder than it looked to hold a kunoichi up with one arm, and one leg, while closing a door with ones foot, and B: he was going to be a little later than he had planned with getting the orders distributed to those jounins.

4

Jiraiya shook his head as he put his little smut-colored book away. He had to give the guy credit, Kakashi knew how to worm his way out of things well. There were times when Jiraiya wished he was half as good. Today, today wasn't one of them. Cold day in hell before today would be a day he tried to weasel out on what seemed to be inevitable. He had a hatchet to bury, and he had the perfect place in mind. About two inches above bridge of Orochimaru's nose, right between his eyes.

Oh yeah, that was the spot, alright.

5


	37. Bloodsoaked Symphony – Accelerando

Chapter 37: Bloodsoaked Symphony – Accelerando

Be careful. It was once said by the Godaime Hokage that these are the two words that an experienced shinobi most hates to hear before a mission. At the time, she offered witnesses no answer, and none was asked for. It would be another six years before the precise reasoning behind the statement would be imparted on those who had heard, when Konoha's Dozen Saints had begun to truly come into the depth and breadth of their powers.

For shinobi, the words be careful were one part jinx, like wishing an actor good luck as they take the stage, and one part insult, a direct implication that the shinobi did not know their job well enough to know that their surroundings are rife with hiding places. Like many things that seem simple and normal in the culture of civilians, in the high-stress, pride-driven, honor-focused world of professional shinobi, a simple phrase of care is more taboo than the true name of any demon or deity.

All present were focused on the battle to hand. Within 36 hours, Tsunade would be engaged in a battle that would leave at least one of the Legendary Sannin as nothing more than legend; and all of those who served under her were aware that they, too, faced suitably epic confrontations in the battle to come.

Although the designations used for both the operation itself, and the locations involved, were lifted from Danzo's ANBU files involving the Root forces at battle, Operation Bloodsoaked Symphony is almost universally accepted to have begun right about the time that the forces of the Honoo-Hanran and the Sunagakure task force and support forces left for Grid-Point Addolorato.

Although what inspired Tsunade's comment is not entirely known, Uzumaki Naruto's legendary inability to shut up does give us one clue, as he is recorded to have asked Temari why she "was so angry at her brother, isn't he Kazekage after all? Its not like he's being unfair, or something..."

Sabaku no Temari sent the younger blond bouncing along the desert sands around this point in time, and there was nothing more said concering the topic. Considering events that followed, the statement could have been considered truly ironic.

1

Orochimaru's smile appeared almost benign from his perch on a misshapen bolder. Hundreds of Otogakure 'shinobi' ran around him, each intent on completing their assigned task to prepare for the incoming Konoha shinobi. Of course, his personal supervision of the situation could have had something to do with their furor.

Otogakure's shinobi fell into four major categories. The first of them were the standard lot of missing ninja that every new village used as their primary shinobi until their first few classes of academy students reached viable ages. They were followed by the hordes of 'ninja', who were really civilians who were taken in, given the cursed seal, and then used as experiments and shock troopers. Beyond the impressive power that the cursed seal gave them, they were barely even capable as ninja. Yet they were more than enough to walk over genins, and provide the average chuunin a semi-decent challenge. These were followed by the shinobi who had been given cursed seals. These shinobi were a cut above the rank and file, serving as his personal elites, eventually being gifted with the second stage seals that marked them as such.

The final category was the smallest, being Orochimaru's personal entourage. Of that rank, there were three; Kabuto, Sasuke, and Orochimaru himself. And of those three, Orochimaru liked to believe himself the greatest threat. No one was willing to divest him of that belief, and that gave him a certain level of confidence, enough that he sat completely at ease in the midst of hundreds of shinobi whose faces he couldn't recognize if his life were to depend upon it, with Konoha's forces having been spotted one hour ago at the far edge of the maze of canyons and mesas that stood between the two forces.

If he knew Tsunade, and Orochimaru had no reason to believe he didn't, she was presently engaged in setting up a medical unit to deal with the critically injured. He would guess that genin would be performing much of the fetch and carry tasks, as they had during their own time as genin. Whether Tsunade's own medic ninja, or medic ninja from their ally of Suangakure would provide the staff, Orochimaru was uncertain, but he didn't believe that it mattered too much. With only a portion of Konoha's forces at her disposal, Tsunade would be hard-pressed to match the swarms of curse-seal reinforced shinobi at his disposal.

Orochimaru smiled. This would be a good day indeed.

2

Not far from the main body of Orochimaru's forces, Uchiha Sasuke, the one of the only living members of his slaughtered clan, stood. He felt surprisingly calm for a man who was about to enter a battle for his life and future. Then again, he was a man who had dedicated his life to killing his own brother. It was one of those ambitions that made him less than the ideal person for introducing to parents.

It was the kind of thing that would put a serious cramp in his ambition to restore his clan, but in the few moments where he was completely honest with himself he doubted that he would be restoring his clan because he doubted he would live past his final battle with Itachi. Those moments had been understandably rare even before he left Konoha, and were even rarer still now; Otogakure did not loan itself to stability or honest reflection.

In some ways, he supposed, that would also explain the woman that had appeared, her back pressed to his own. There was very little that was stable about either of them, with his fratricidal intentions and her rather impressive Multiple Personality Disorder. And if either of them would allow themselves the thought, they were bound to impede one another at some point; with his desire for vengeance and her desire to serve her master, the instant that Orochimaru was no longer useful to Sasuke, the two would be in instant, direct conflict.

"Are you worried?" Her voice, a deeper and more mellifluous sound than Sakura's clear, direct tones, surprised Sasuke with its ability to continuously catch his attention in a way that none from Konoha had ever really achieved.

"Not particularly. I've beaten the dobe before. I can do it again. He can't have improved too much since we last met."

"He did fight Lord Orochimaru twice before you fought him last time; the effects of fighting someone like our leader had to be straining."

Sasuke let a slight smirk split his face. "He's a jinchuuriki, Karin; that's how he fought Orochimaru last time, and that's how he fought me before that. I can shut down that power source quite easily now; he can't match me anymore."

The warmth left his back, only to be replaced by a pair of particularly warm spots just below his shoulder blades, a hand snaking underneath his open kimono-top. "If he's really a jinchuuriki, then I would suggest not being too confident in that. They're hard to predict, sometimes."

"And painfully easy at others. Jinchuuriki only have so many tricks up their sleeves before they run out. They rely on their demons for power far too often." Sasuke's hand came up, easily extracting the hand that was questing around inside of his top.

"No different than the rest of us, in that regard." Karin drew her hand back. "You keep quoting Orochimaru like that to me; you know I have everything he has ever said memorized."

So he was dealing with THAT Karin, was he? "What does he want?"

"He is of the belief that this boy, Naruto, is not someone you should under estimate. He said to tell you that 'the boy did not begin to truly use his abilities as a jinchuuriki until recently.' He is, in short, telling you the same thing that I am telling you now. There's more to him than you want to believe."

Sasuke sighed. "Does no one have faith in my abilities? I am an Uchiha, we are the elite. You know that very well, Karin." Turning to face the woman, Sasuke gently lifted the glasses from her face. He watched with a sort of clinical fascination as her expression slowly shifted, softer, more open, more amorous.

Whether this or the more clinical Karin was the original, not even she really could remember anymore. It had been so long since her M.D.P. had set in, since Orochimaru had bound the clinical part of her mind to the glasses that she wore, forever solving the problem at the price of her loyalty to him. "I trust your abilities as a shinobi, Sasuke." Her hand flashed out, and, allowing himself a slight moment of playfulness, Sasuke lifted the glasses just beyond the extent of her reach. "But you need to keep things in perspective. Orochimaru himself once said that the boy could be a problem in the future."

"The future, Karin. Not now." He said, letting her flailing hand reclaim her glasses. She settled the glasses back onto her face, and stepped back from the younger man. She gave him another look, before settling her fists into a hip, shifting her weight to rest on that leg, pushing the hip out further.

"He said that three years ago, Sasuke; Orochimaru also wanted me to tell you that even Jiraiya, oaf that he is, grew to be a shinobi of decent power with only a few years, and less motivation than your 'betrayal' appears to have given that boy." Leaning her head forward slightly, she let the glasses slide to the end of her nose, allowing the two more publicly acceptable parts of herself to blend together. "Don't die, okay?"

Karin was gone before Sasuke could form a response, her jade top rapidly disappearing into the moving throng of ninja. Slight smirk falling away now that he had been left alone to his thoughts, Sasuke turned back to look out over the canyons, allowing his thoughts to take up their own quest, piecing together just how much more powerful the dobe could have gotten, and what abilities he might have learned.

3

The golden hour. For medics of all professions, it is the timeframe between injury and treatment that can improve survival rates by as much or more than half. For shinobi, it is the one hour that stands between contact and conflict, the one hour that it is most difficult for enemy insertions to effectively hamper operations, and thus the one hour that is dedicated to actually preparing for a battle when two large shinobi forces encounter one another. Every country has a different operational procedure that is followed during this one hour, a different series of events and priorities that are taken care of between contact and conflict. For Konoha, one of the primary operational procedures has been to establish the presence of a well-supplied, and well-defended medical unit; followed closely by the establishing of a capable, equally well-defended command and control center.

Few records exist of what Otogakure used its golden hour for. Those that do remain, found both in the Root files, and in the observations and memoirs of various shinobi at the battle, speak of both a pharmaceutical facility used to fuel the cursed-seal crazed shinobi that Otogakure flooded the battlefield with, and a firebase, armed with amplifiers to allow for highly powerful genjutsu and ninjutsu to be released onto the battlefield.

The Honoo-Hanran, powerful though they may have been, could have found themselves in a truly desperate situation were it not for the unaccounted for presence of the Suna ninja, who were tasked with the duty of discovering the enemy's preparations. As with any shinobi firebase, a large part of its effectiveness relied on its position being defended, and undisclosed. Shortly before the battle began, Otogakure's plans took their first major hit, as Suna ninja removed the danger of the firebase from the conflict.

4

Sasuke heard the explosion, and for half a moment found himself wondering who had fooled with Orochimaru's experiments again. It didn't take him long to realize what had exploded, as the shinobi that had formed ranks behind him began to whisper that the firebase had been blown to pieces. Shaking his head, he glanced over his shoulder, fixing his gaze on the front-most ranks of shinobi. A slight pulse of chakra was all it took to get them back in line. The fear of the uppermost echelon of Otogakure shinobi, who were permitted to kill (within reason (excluding Orochimaru)) on the whim of a moment, was unmatched. That Sasuke had never exercised this right (to anyone's knowledge) did not lessen that fear.

"I told you before, we don't need that firebase."

The utter calm in his voice was all that 'his men' needed to settle their shattered nerves. Whether or not it helped their opinions of Uchiha Sasuke's sanity was another issue entirely.

5

Tsunade settled her face into her tried and true battle mask as her eyes fell on the ranks of Otogakure shinobi. The only truly unifying element of the lot was that purple rope-obi that Orochimaru had always been so fond of. She had time for little more than that lone observation as her eyes immediately caught on the figure that led the opposing ranks. She felt her heart still do its little staccato step; as it had so long ago, when the three of them were foolish genin and she believed that his looks and cold exterior hid a man whom never existed.

Jiraiya felt more than saw the skipping heartbeat of his long-time comrade. He knew that Orochimaru had to sense it as well, and judging by the slight flicker of amusement behind the Snake Sannin's eyes, it amused him to no end. Just as it always had.

Stepping forward, Tsunade leveled a single finger at Orochimaru. "We've come to settle an old score."

"Really? Which one would that be, I have so many with your village, after all." Orochimaru hissed, his shoulder shaking with laughter at his private joke.

Tsunade's grin was more fitting for a tiger than a slug-mistress. "All of them."

Orochimaru's laughter dropped immediately, his eyes locking onto his two teammates. Jiraiya spoke, unflinching. "Lets take this somewhere more private, huh?" A quick pair of nods, and the three Sannin broke off, lunging across canyons and mesas to reach a more secluded playing field, where their powers could be unleashed without fear or danger to lesser mortals.

6

Across the entirety of the battlefield, similar scenes played out, as Konoha shinobi still loyal to Tsunade, and Otogakure shinobi chose out targets based either on appearances of strength, or based on old grudges from the three years of war. Of all these scenes, few of them are truly noteworthy. Kakashi and Kabuto's battle began with little fanfare, as if the two were merely removing their last confrontation, inside of a Konoha hospital room, from an indefinite pause.

A battle which began with considerably greater pomp and circumstance occurred on the plateau adjacent to where the Otogakure and Konoha leaders had initially met for battle. It was on this plateau that, for the first time in three years, all the members of Konoha's Dozen Saints were gathered in one place. Many attribute this combat to the be actual birth of the Dozen Saints, although there is some serious dispute over whether their actual 'birth' might not have been earlier, during those fateful Chuunin Exams, or later, when Danzou's true madness began to become clear.

7

"Ready to come back with us now?" Naruto asked the moment that he saw Sasuke. He felt his knuckles tighten slightly underneath his gloves, could hear their material creak under the pressure he was putting on them. He would have to look into getting actual shinobi gloves when he got back to Konoha… Suna, when he got back to Suna. It wouldn't do for his hands to make that kind of noise all the time, not with the way he fought nowadays.

"Hn… You think you can beat me, dobe?" Sasuke's voice carried with it the prerequisite amounts and mixture of disdain, arrogance, and general sod-offness so as to guarantee a reaction out of both of his former teammates. He was vaguely surprised when neither of them reacted, except for Sakura to further secure her gloves, and for Naruto to tighten his Konoha headband. In the back of his mind, he heard Karin's warnings, and wondered if she might not have been at least partially correct. "As I recall, this was just between you and me. No one else." He said, throwing a significant look at Sakura.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah… No one, and nothing, else." Sasuke paused for a moment, understanding perfectly Naruto's meaning with that statement. Fighting back his hesitation, he nodded. If he needed the cursed seal to take out regular old Naruto, without his Kyuubi-enhanced powers, then he really was in the wrong place.

Seeing the Uchiha survivor give his assent, Naruto smiled, and jerked his head off to the side. Not even waiting for a response, Naruto bolted for the edge of the plateau, and lunged away from the main body of the battle, headed away from all possible interference. A quick glance confirmed that, as he always had, Sasuke held the advantage of speed, easily catching up to and keeping pace with the Kyuubi vessel.

Finally judging the distance as enough, Naruto let himself skid, losing momentum even as he turned to face Sasuke. The Uchiha came to a halt as well, his hand finding its way to rest on the side of his rope-obi. Impassive as always, he watched the blond who stood, his weight balanced between the tips of his fingers and the balls of his feet, a fox ready to pounce at any moment.

Except he already had, Sasuke realized belatedly, as he was forced to duck under one Naruto's spinning kick, and block another as it aimed a kick up at his solar plexus. Shifting the block from two arms to one, he brought the other arm up to block the follow-up axe-kick from the Naruto behind him. Putting his speed advantage to use, Sasuke spun, preparing to dispense with the two Naruto clones in one strike. His left hand speared out, striking the still air-born Naruto in the kidney, as the other lanced towards the crouched Naruto's throat. He was surprised when he felt the muscle in the back of his calf give out, a well-placed kick collapsing the joint of his knee. Staggering, he felt the Naruto behind him spin, before planting a knee into his lower back, flipping the Uchiha forward. Moving with the flip, Sasuke planted one hand, and thrust a foot back at the blond shadow-clone, dispelling it as his foot thrust through where the clone's head had once been.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he felt the wealth of information pour into him from the two clones. If he knew Sasuke at all, the fact that even one of his clones had managed to land a hit would be enough to draw out the Sharingan.

Sasuke sneered as he looked across the field from his own crouch. That dobe had actually managed to land a hit, and he hadn't even had to do it himself. What was he doing, sending Kage bunshins at an Uchiha? Sasuke had half a mind to be insulted, but settled on humoring the dobe. He saw the point quite clearly, after all. It read 'Use your blasted Sharingan already.'

Who was he to disappoint the village idiot? He let a small trickle of chakra flow out into his eyes, and felt the Sharingan come to life.

The blood-red eyes of Sharingan met with Naruto's crystalline-blue optics. Naruto smirked, and for the first time in three years, Sasuke had to delve into his memories of all the various types of smirks, smiles and grins Naruto fell back on. He rapidly came up with the answer, and somehow the knowing only made it worse. For this was Naruto's 'Gotcha now.' Smirk, and Sasuke had rarely seen him pull that out unless he had something up his sleeve.

"Ya know, Sasuke, a bloodline's only as good as the stuff that makes it work. Anyone who knows how it works, can get around it, find holes in it." The blond's facial markings twitched for a moment, and as Sasuke watched, the air around Naruto began to fill with a whipping lattice of chakra.

"Do you have a point?" Sasuke asked, holding off in the hopes that the blond would explain what this flailing network of chakra tendrils was supposed to be. The tendrils, as it rapidly turned out, were only the first step, as they suddenly lashed onto one another, forming a web of chakra that surrounded the entirety of the blond's body, a crystal network of blue veins hovering at a good foot from his body.

"I'm getting there! Do you know what the whole point of the Sharingan is? It isn't copying, although its known for that. It isn't even prediction. The All-knowing Sharingan, is really better called the All-analyzing Sharingan."

Sasuke paused. The dobe knew, huh. "So what."

All at once, the blue veins of chakra drew themselves back towards Naruto, lacing themselves through the blonds tenketsu, covering his body in a network of glowing blue tendrils invisible to the eye of all but experienced shinobi, or those with doujutsus. Such as Sasuke's own Sharingan

"Basic level Sharingan can't see chakra well, and thus has to go off of physical signals, such as muscle movements, momentum and the like. But this provides enough data for the Sharingan to be able to predict information, and copy basic movements that the user is very familiar with."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as the dobe broke down the secret of his family doujutsu so easily. It was rather disturbing, in actuality, he had used the ability to copy familiar movements during that written Chuunin exam."

"After the Sharingan hits its second stage, the tricks get more varied, because then the user can see chakra better. At that point, Sharingan begins to tap into the user's knowledge about everything from fighting to hand seals to lip reading to use as information, in addition to what it sees from the shinobi in front of it. But as a side effect, this lets the user copy the process of using a specific jutsu. The ability to see the hand signs and how the chakra is moved through the body and environment, in combination with the knowledge of the hand signs that are used by the jutsu's original user, means that the jutsu can instantly be copied for use. Of course, that the Sharingan's owner can't perform the jutsu any better than the person he copied it from without practice is expected, but that's life for ya."

It had to be admitted, Sasuke was impressed. Karin might not have been so far off base when she said that he was underestimating Naruto. That he was talking so much about Sharingan, breaking down how it went about copying jutsus, a trick that even Sasuke didn't entirely understand, was actually as intimidating as it was mystifying. And it was nothing if not mystifying to hear the village idiot show more knowledge than the village genius about his own advanced bloodline. For a moment, Sasuke began to wonder if, perhaps, Naruto might just be able to win this fight, before banishing the thought. Even if it had been a remote possibility, it wasn't something he could afford to be entertaining going into the battle; it would be distracting.

"Really, its once Sharingan gets to the final level that things get really creepy. At that point, Sharingan can not only read chakra like a book, but it can actually read a little bit of the neural impulses in another person's mind, provided your close enough. Once you can do that, its possible for an Uchiha to project themselves into the target's mind, and influence them to some degree or another. The amount really depends on a variety of things, such as if the opponent is expecting it or not, the mental strength of the targeted shinobi, and the mental state of the target. A tired, confused or stressed out opponent is more susceptible to this. Since I was all three of those last time, its really no surprise you could shut down even Kyuubi. After all, when it comes down to it, however powerful fuzzball thinks he is, I'm still the jailor, and my mind is the one that is in charge."

"I believe the terms were no one, and nothing else." Sasuke growled, already reaching for his cursed seal. If the dobe wanted to bring out the fox, he would find that the fight would be considerably harder than their battle three years ago.

"Of course it is; your little stunt last time was a form of the Sharingan's hypnosis technique, a technique I know how to counter now." Naruto said, as the chakra lattice solidified, its loops flowing fluidly in and out of his tenketsu, around his body in a pattern more complex than any puzzle Sasuke had set his eyes to work on in years.

"You see, Gai-sensei developed a way to fight Sharingan users based solely on the movements of their feet. It's a good trick, but it takes years to learn normally, and it isn't the most precise thing in the world. So I've got a different one. I watch the chest muscles."

Sasuke felt his head tilt at that. "What happened to years, dobe? And why the chest, wouldn't the hands be better?"

"Hands are easy to use for genjutsu, and not every attack involves the hands. Anytime you move to strike with your hands, feet, even a simple headbutt, muscles in the chest and stomach move, because these muscles are the most important ones to movement in the entire body. And as for years… Did you know that whenever a Kage Bunshin is dispelled, everything it remembers is sent directly to the user; as long as the user can supply a given amount of chakra and mental energy, those memories can be retained and integrated as the users own. Most shinobi can't really make much use of this trick, as the amount of chakra required to retain and integrate memories is almost equal to the amount of chakra needed to create Kage Bunshins in the first place."

Sasuke couldn't help it; his mouth fell open as it dawned on him what the blond was saying. He quickly recollected his Uchiha cool™ "But for you, that's not a concern."

Naruto smirked. "Nope. Now multiply a thousand Kage Bunshins by a month of training with Gai-sensei to fight Sharingan users his way, and another several months with Kakashi-sensei to develop new ways… I'm finally ready to take you on."

Sasuke couldn't help but stare at Naruto's pronouncement. "So much work wasted on a single fight." Sasuke lunged forward, his eyes flashing. He saw Naruto launch himself, and waited for his eyes to predict his next movement, to throw that shadowy image that would tell him where the blow was coming from.

He was more than a little surprised when the blow he saw coming was the real one, and barely managed to maneuver his forearm into place to block the jab. Naruto rolled with the momentum, moving into a massive backhand with the other arm. Sasuke ducked under the blow, and was surprised when the blond whipped his body, bringing the knee of his right leg at the side of Sasuke's face. The Uchiha leaned back, and realized instantly that was a mistake. Although the Sharingan was still mysteriously blank in predicting the blond's next attack, he could guess well enough from the way he had been whipping around, transferring momentum, that the knee was going to rapidly become a straight kick, one that Sasuke would be unable to dodge or block given the proximity, force, and built-up momentum behind the attack.

He was right, as Naruto smoothly chambered the knee, bracing his splayed hands and foot on the ground, and unleashed a powerful side-kick into Sasuke's chest. The Uchiha was launched a good foot and a half by the kick, before he managed to reclaim control of his flight, and flipped himself back onto his feet. Even still, he skidded another half-foot before he stopped completely.

"I told you, I developed new ways to fight Sharingan. Did you think that all that chakra I was moving around earlier was for show?"

Sasuke's eyes widened, as he realized what the blond had done. Sharingan's analytic abilities relied in part on those of the user, and although it had a degree of precision and detail-work that a normal human's mind could never match, he was more than capable enough for this. The blond's lattice of chakra, weaving into and out of and through the tenketsu, or at least where Sasuke was almost certain the tenketsu were located… it was almost absurdly simple, yet so expected of the blond that Sasuke was truly surprised he hadn't thought about it.

"You've hidden your chakra system with that network." Sasuke said, as he straightened up from his crouch.

"Meh… almost. What I've really done is created a kind of advanced chakra aura. Its laced into and through my coils so that I don't have to put any effort into maintaining it, its automatic once I set it up. Because it's so tightly constructed, and so closely attached to my chakra coils, it's actually less expensive, chakra-wise, than the average chakra aura. It can't be used to attack like a normal aura because it doesn't bleed out enough chakra to be able to harm. But the amount of chakra it bleeds out is just about sufficient to keep even Kakashi's Mangekyou Sharingan from piercing it."

Sasuke froze as his world came crashing down at that last sentence. 'Kakashi's Mangekyou Sharingan'

8

For those who are not up with the manga to this point in time, Karin is a character who has premiered within the last month or so. We are unaware of what her powers as a ninja might be, although we _should_ know before my next update. If we don't, I'll have to figure out something suitable. (am really hoping Kishimoto will tell us before then.)

Everything pertaining to her having multiple personalities and to her relationship with Sasuke is of my own devising; although the multiple personality bit seems to be hinted at in canon, and her 'thing' with Sasuke isn't that much of a stretch considering her introduction.

Accelerando – gradual acceleration in a piece of music; gradually increasing tempo.

Addolorato – sorrowfully, used to describe the way that a piece should be played or should feel.


	38. Bloodsoaked Symphony Canon

Chapter 38: Bloodsoaked Symphony - Canon

Naruto carefully watched the former Konoha shinobi. He knew he was running a risk with this strategy, but it was something Kakashi had suggested himself, using Sasuke's own personality flaws against him. Naruto knew better than most anyone how much his teammate obsessed over that power; the power of the Uchiha eye. Striking at the heart of his self-image and ego was a sure way to throw him off, Kakashi had informed him in his most self-confident tones.

Thus Naruto was surprised when the Uchiha's shoulders began to shake. For a half-second he thought that the boy might have broken down into tears. It wasn't exactly how Naruto had expected their fight to end, and it wasn't exactly fitting with his image of Sasuke. Thus he wasn't surprised when the shaking shoulders turned out to be the first sign of a body-wracking laugh. His head thrown back, eyes closed, the laugh was full-bodied, and something that Sakura might have killed to hear, even now.

The only thing that kept him from being certain of her willingness to kill, was that the laugh was colder than any ice that Haku had created, on that bridge so long ago. It was the laugh of a man who wasn't entirely on this side of sanity anymore. It trailed off, as Sasuke brought his eyes down to face the blond Jinchuuriki. "You thought I'd buy that? Kakashi's Mangekyou indeed. He wouldn't have the balls. Killing his own dog would be too hard for him. Killing his best friend, he's not got it."

"You sure he would have to kill his friend?"

"Of course dobe."

"He is an experienced shinobi. He could have probably done it if he had to."

"You didn't kill me; I didn't kill you."

"We weren't experienced shinobi."

Sasuke bobbed his head a little to that, his eyes half-closing. His hand migrated from his hip to his sword-hilt, slowly drawing the blade. "How about now? Are we experienced enough to kill each other now?"

Naruto frowned, as he began molding his chakra. "We done talking? I'm bored."

"Hn." Sasuke launched himself at the blond, sword flashing out for the Konoha ninja's neck. Leaning back, Naruto let the blade flash over his chest, as his leg chambered in, and kicked out at Sasuke's stomach. The black-haired teen struggled to draw a breath, as Naruto's toe continued to dig into his solar plexus, using its momentum to launch the Snake Apprentice up. Swinging the leg back, a pendulum going from one end of the clock to the other, push-off with the grounded leg, let momentum pull the body into a full-flip. Spinning heal drop into Sasuke's back.

The Uchiha bounced off the ground a little as Naruto landed, quickly shifting to grab the Uchiha by the ankles. Sasuke was definitely broader across the shoulder than the blond jinchuuriki, and he had always been better built for raw displays of muscle. Naruto, however, had acquired a fine understanding of leverage, momentum and centrifugal force while learning the Kitsune's fighting style. Beginning in a low crouch, begin to spin. As momentum begins to lift opponent off the ground, follow the movement, keeping your shoulders and ribs above opponent's body whenever possible. Lean away a bit as the momentum begins to build, allowing your opponent's spinning force and weight to maintain balance. Make sure that the feet stay as close to the center of the spin as possible, and the hips stay centered below your own center of gravity. As your opponent begins to reach shoulder height, pick a target, figure the angle, and release.

Sasuke saw the large bolder he was approaching long before he actually made impact. Unfortunately, when traveling at the speed he was, and with the inertia that he had to work against, he wasn't going to be doing much to prevent the impact. Still, he tried to curl himself up, protecting head and neck from the bolder. He succeeded, but the poor bolder, having left its shinobi guards, did not fare as well.

Sasuke groaned as he staggered to his feet. Okay, the dobe must have really hurt him more than he thought, if he was thinking in puns that were THAT bad.

1

Jiraiya staggered out of the crater that Orochimaru had just thrown him into. Although the crater was one of Tsunade's creation, from early in their bout, it still hurt to have been thrown head-first into that much rock. Looking up, he saw Tsunade holding the Snake bastard's attention, and nodded. Reaching down, he grasped a handful of rock dust, and began flow through a series of hand-seals. "Kuchiyose: Iwaryu" Jiraiya threw the dust in his hand off to the side, and watched with a little bit of amusement as the rock underneath began to shift and grunt, before rising up, the long, serpentian form of a dragon slither slashing its way across the ground, intent on its master's foe.

Tsunade heard it coming, and lunged out of the way just before it attacked, its body disintegrating into virtual storm of rock spikes and spears. Orochimaru had almost no time to react.

Unfortunately, for a Sannin, almost no time is approximately the same as a hundred years for the rest of us. In the end, one of the pieces of rock had pierced straight through the meat of his right thigh. He winced slightly as he took his weight off the leg.

"Oooh. That must have hurt, Orochi. Come here, let me fix it for you." Tsunade's cooing voice was laced with all the free arsenic in the world, as she lunged again. Orochimaru snorted softly, before he returned to weaving through the blows that she was raining down on him.

2

"Any last words?" Kakashi asked, his eyes locked firmly on Kabuto's injured arms, where his summoned pack held him tightly. His hands flew through the seals for Chidori, summoning the focused electrical cloud to his hand, as he took careful aim. This bastard had gotten away once before today, and cheated death twice before now in this one fight. He wasn't going to get a third attempt.

"Yes, actually. What are you waiting for you buffoons?" Kabuto demanded. Kakashi sighed, somehow certain he wasn't going to like where this was headed. Turning his head slightly, he sighed again. Two squads less one of Cursed Seal troopers, that missing trooper replaced by a Cursed Seal Two elite. A full two squads of Sound's suicide berserker troops.

He hated being right.

3

Naruto watched as Sasuke staggered to his feet, the recently graveled pieces of bolder falling off of his white yukata top. Looking off to the side for a moment, he nodded to himself. His shadow clones had done well in burying the blade. Wind chakra plus another bolder, the results were a half-ton of hiding place that even Sasuke couldn't move immediately.

Naruto gasped in a breath, as he felt Sasuke's hand buried into his stomach. Spinning, the Uchiha drove an elbow in between Naruto's shoulder blades, bringing his knee into the blond's chest before he could fall more than a couple inches. As he brought his foot down, Sasuke's hands grabbed onto the back of Naruto's vest, and pivoting from one leg to the other, he heaved Naruto up over his shoulder, flipping the blond through the air.

It is a little known fact that there are only a few throws in the world that cannot be recovered from, simply because by changing the placement of a finger or two during the actual throw, the angles and momentum are changed completely. Almost every shinobi in the world knows these throws, and Naruto was forced to remember why as he landed hard on his shoulder, gasping for breath as the ball of his humorous popped out of the socket. Closing his eyes for a moment, he poked at the joint, painfully determining the angle it had left the socket.

Sasuke wasn't in the mood to let him pop it back in, apparently. The prodigy appeared above him with the same almost impossible speed he had used to land the first hit in his earlier attack, drawing his leg up. Axing down, he brought the foot down into the back of Naruto's ribcage, intent on cracking a couple ribs if nothing else.

He watched in amazement as the blond in front of him disappeared in a puff of smoke. When had he made the clone, and when had he used Kawarimi? Spinning, he let his eyes scan over the area, searching for his former teammate.

He heard the movement too late to do more than turn to look at the crystal blue eyes, as Naruto's leg slashed out, catching him across the temple. The Uchiha was sent into a mid-air cartwheel from the momentum. Refusing to let a little thing like landing slow the pace, throw back a leg, catching the opponent in the torso with the heel of the foot. Sasuke coughed as the heel smashed into his sternum, sending his upside-down body flying a few feet from the blond. Hitting the ground on his shoulders, he rolled to his feet, letting his hand move up to his chest as the pain began to throb. "Nice trick dobe. Hiding behind others as usual, and this time under your own clone too. Didn't know you knew Dochou Eigyou."

"Didn't know you knew Shunshin." Naruto said, as two clones popped his shoulder back into place, before dispelling themselves.

"Oh, bright enough to figure it out on you own for once?"

"Well, there were only two possibilities, and I know you couldn't have picked up Hiraishin with that eye of yours. Not even Ero-sennin knows that jutsu."

Sasuke sneered, throwing himself into the Shunshin jutsu again. His hand flew at Naruto's stomach as he slowed into normal speed.

A quick spin and twist, the fist grazed by the blond, as he slammed his arm into the side of Sasuke's neck. Quick sweep, swing the leg up and into a back kick before he can fall too far. Sasuke bounced away again, holding his gut. Since when had that asshole gotten so good at Taijutsu? Did he really use the Sharingan that much?

Ignoring the voice in the back of his head that was screaming 'yes' he watched as Naruto put the leg back on the ground. Eyes widening, a smile splitting his face, Sasuke saw the slight twinge of muscles protesting.

4

Tsuande grunted in pain as a pair of fangs sunk deep into her shoulder, another matching pair finding their way into her thigh. Reaching for the points of contact, she grasped the pair of snakes that had lunged from the ground beneath her, and squeezed, crushing their heads and sending their bodies from the mortal world.

Seeing this, Jiraiya turned himself to the task of drawing Orochimaru's attention. Raising a hand, he gave a simple snap of the fingers.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly. What was that fool doing? He felt his leg twitch, and looked down, eyes narrowed in anger. The wound that had been created by Jiraiya's Iwaryu was apparently more than met the eye. After pulling the rock from his leg, Orochimaru had thought nothing of the rock dust that was left around the wound, believing it to be benign. Such was apparently not the case, as the rocks below them were crumbling into dust, flowing up to join the dust that had been left on his leg. Orochimaru watched with a certain clinical fascination as the dust grew into another, smaller version of the Iwaryu from earlier, which proceeded to drive itself into the wound on his thigh. Hissing in pain. Orochimaru quickly grasped the thing's lower body, pulled it off of himself, and twisted, breaking it in half.

The two forms of dust crumbled to the ground. Looking up at Jiraiya, Orochimaru was surprised to see the white-haired idiot smirking that smug grin of his. Sensing the build-up of chakra, Orochimaru lunged up and out of the way, as two Iwaryu lunged from the ground, full-sized and hungry for his blood. Looking at the pair of dragons, Orochimaru shook his head in frustration. He should have known better than to think it would be so easy. Jiraiya's summoning technique was beyond compare by anyone, except maybe Orochimaru's own. To destroy a creature he had summoned to this battle so easily would almost impossible. Lunging back again as the pair of Iwaryu rushed forward, Orochimaru flew through a set of handseals in mid-air. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he made his move. "Raiton: Kanden Sekijun"

The Iwaryu let out a slight scream of pain as bolts of lightning lunged from below them, shattering their bodies on their course to the patches of ionization in the atmosphere. Jiraiya frowned as he finished the seals he had been flashing through, and threw a bloodsoaked kunai in the direction of his former teammate. Dropping to the ground, he slammed his palms to the ground. "Doton: Yomi Kagaisha"

Orochimaru didn't wait for the chakra build-up to finish. He remembered this one, and he had to get out of the way now. He had barely managed to put 30 feet between himself and the kunai before the ground below it exploded in a torrent of flames, revealing the Yomi Kagaisha. 8 feet of sinew and bleach-bone armor, a pair of crescent-ended swords strapped to the ends of its arms, and the scent of decay surrounding it. Its feet were wide, designed to spread the weight of its body over a larger area to avoid sinking. Turning to his former teammate, he bit back a curse as he saw Jiraiya drive his hands into the ground again. "Doton: Yomi Numa"

Orochimaru lunged straight up as the swamp spread out underneath where he had been standing. A quick search showed him very little option on avoiding landing on the swamp, his only choice was to find a way to avoid sinking.

Flashing through handseals, Orochimaru summoned a pair of massive snakes. The pair of serpentian reptiles could do little more than squirm as their summoner let them fall into the swamp, their heads barely high enough to avoid suffocation. Landing, Orochimaru scowled as he felt the swamp sucking his feet in, stripping him of much of his precious advantage of speed. Looking up, he saw the Yomi Kagaisha closing in, far faster than he would have believed possible for something with its ramshackle body.

5

Naruto kept his eyes locked on his former teammate's torso, watchful for the sudden movements or tensing of muscles that would telegraph a strike. In the periphery of his vision, he could see the Uchiha's facial expression. Whether it was because of that trick Kakashi had recommended to him, or because of stress, or whatever, Naruto didn't know.

Whatever the cause, Sasuke's eyes and the mad grin told all. He was, at this moment, further gone than Mizuki had been years ago, further gone than he had been at the Valley of the End. Madness had sunk its claws deep. And Sasuke had just collapsed his leg with a swift kick to the protesting left hip joint.

Naruto's eyes widened as he fell to the side. An almost impossibly fast right-cross sent Naruto flying. Quickly bracing his hands against the dirt, he popped himself back to a standing position. Sasuke propelled himself at Naruto again, kick headed directly for the blond's chest.

A quick gathering of chakra, let the kick slam into Naruto's chakra-reinforced chest. A quick step forward and around, forming his hand into the approximation of a claw, Naruto drove them directly into Sasuke's face. The Uchiha brought hand up, grappling with the blond, even as he used the leverage of Naruto's hand to spin around the blond, directing a knee deep into Naruto's back.

Naruto moved with the momentum of the strike, flipping over Sasuke's suspended leg. Letting the flip do the work, Naruto flung Sasuke face-first into the ground. Bringing his leg up, he prepared to drive the heel down into the back of Sasuke's shoulder, aiming to dislocate the joint with one smooth strike. Sasuke wrenched his arm free, rolling out the way of the kick, and popping back to his feet.

"You! How can you see me in Shunshin?" Sasuke demanded, regaining his feet.

"Same way that any experienced shinobi sees in Shunshin. I've gotten used to seeing at the speed."

"I'm an Uchiha! The Sharingan…"

"Slows down the speed of things in Shunshin, letting you move faster and more accurately than anyone else in Shunshin. Kakashi told me all about Shisui no Shunshin, thank you."

Sasuke quieted at that, searching the Dobe's face for the lies he knew were there. So he knew how Shunshin worked, big woopie – not like it was that big of a secret anyways. That didn't explain how he could see Sasuke's movement.

'A month with Gai-sensei to fight Sharingan users.'

A mini-Gai, dropping hundreds of pounds that had been strapped to his legs for who knew how long. A mini-Gai that was then moving at speeds almost identical to those of Shunshin, but entirely capable of controlling and maneuvering at the speeds without assistance from bloodlimits.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in rage. "So you can see me, now?"

"If I could see you, I would have dodged that kick. No, I've just learned how to react to people moving quickly. Sakura throws harder punches than you do, and she's never actually knocked me out."

At that particular moment, Sasuke could feel his sight turning red. SAKURA threw harder punches? That's it, the dobe was dead. Flipping through a couple seals, Sasuke extended his hands. "Senei'jashu!" The snakes flew through the air for a moment, before being intercepted.

Sasuke growled. Had the dobe broken the terms of their agreement? Glancing across, he saw the look of absolute shock on his face, before shaking his head. That kind of surprise cannot be falsified.

The ink-black dragons that had struck Sasuke's snakes mid-flight disintegrated into small streams of ink. Following the streams of ink led back to the past the edge of the plateau. There, crouching on a small pillar of rock, barely two feet across, was Sai, his hands flashing through the motions of creating another set of animals.

Without looking up, he addressed the two Konoha shinobi. "Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, low-A-ranked Nukenin; by the order of the Rokudaime Hokage Danzou, you are both to be executed."

6

Canon – two or more parts that have the same melody but start at different points

Shunshin – Body Flicker – Not to be confused with the Yondaime's famed Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God, his little seal-bound kunai trick.), this technique is commonly used by shinobi throughout the series, often with smoke, leaves, sand, mist or other elements swirling around the user to serve as a 'blocker', a visual distraction and barrier between the user and other shinobi. This jutsu allows the user to move at incredibly high speeds, appearing at locations within moments. Usually used for line-of-sight transfer or to and from locations that are well-known to the user (such as when ANBU or Jounin use Shunshin to maneuver around the village.) The speeds that are traveled at are nigh-impossible to actually fight at, as the user's reaction speed is not fast enough to respond the constantly shifting situation of actual combat. Normally, when used in combat, Shunshin is used against a far inferior opponent to rapidly defeat them, to catch up to an opponent on the ropes, or an opponent who is has been seriously demoralized. The Uchiha's Sharingan allows for the user to slow the world around them to the point where they can move through a battlefield at the speeds of a Shunshin and be able to react. The speed, however, is still enough to cause serious damage to the user if a strike is delivered at Shunshin speeds, forcing even Uchiha's to slow to normal speeds just before a bare-handed attack is delivered. (Note that this does not hold true for attacks with weapons, such as swords, the sword will be able to absorb the damage (being designed for impacts at high speeds with considerable force) where the human body cannot..)

Doton: Iwaryu – Earth Release: Rock Dragon – Summons a semi-sentient creature that constructs a body of rock or rock dust. Its rock body can be 'destroyed' in a shower of sharp rocks. If one of these rocks pierces an opponent, then it will spawn rock dust that will allow it to be awoken at a later point in the battle. This rock-dust version of the Iwaryu may be easily destroyed by breaking apart the body, but its destruction will result in the immediate birth of as many full-sized Iwaryu as the dust forms were broken into.

Raiton: Kanden Sekijun – Lightning Release: Shocking Stalagmite – the atmosphere above a target is ionized to the point where the earth underneath will literally spew forth lightning to balance out the ionization. This would be fine if it weren't for the fact that the bolt is formed into a piercing spear from below, running opponents through and causing massive injury to anyone unfortunate enough to be in the way.

Doton: Yomi Kagaisha – Earth Release: Underworld Assailant – a native to the Swamps of the Underworld, this creature is a mass of walking armor and muscle, designed to kill and rend those who wander through the swamps they patrol. Although slow in normal terrain, in the swamps, where others are sucked down by the muck and water, they can wander across the surface with ease.

Doton: Yomi Numa – Swamp of the Underworld – summons a section of the Swamp of the Underworld, sucks down and slowly crushes victims. Powerful but difficult to produce without large amounts of chakra, outstanding control, or a combination of the above.

Senei'jashu – Hidden snake Hands – projects snakes from users sleeves


	39. Author's Note

Authors Notes

I am sorry that it has taken me so long to update this fic. About mid-August, my laptop, with all of my information on the various konoha ninja, their techniques, styles, strengths, weaknesses, etc. died on me. Sadly, I had no back up of this information. Suffice to say, this has put a considerable damper on my ability to update. Combine this with my status as a junior in an exceedingly difficult college program, and I hope you understand that I have had a devil of a time getting my act together.

I will hopefully be able to update for you before the end of the year. For those who are waiting for an update on Different Toys, you will be waiting a little longer, but I hope to have an update out before mid-January.

To further elaborate on a few points that I will not have the opportunity to address fully for some time.

Battle Saints: A class of shinobi that are a force unto themselves. In series, although Asuma, Kurenai, Kakashi, and Gai are all jounin, there can be no doubt that there is a vast difference between the skill levels of Asuma/Kurenai, and Kakashi/Gai. Usually, Kakashi and Gai are referred to as part of the informal classification of "elite jounin", while Asuma and Kurenai are usually categorized as simply jounin. Battle Saints are another informal category. As an example, Jiraiya's name in the register does not call him a "battle saint", merely a jounin, just as Kakashi or Gai's name would not necessarily say "elite jounin." It is in his mission record that the story of his power would be truly told.

Danzou and Konoha: I will not say much. All I can say is that I do have a well-thought out logic to how Danzou acquired so much power so fast, as well as why he does not really view Naruto as a threat. I do plan to address everything with Konoha in time, but I do not intend to do so immediately. I want to handle the Orochimaru issue first.

Akatsuki: Akatsuki will get its time in the spotlight. Just like in the series, where they did not really become a major player until the series was in its second half, you will have to wait a while before Akatsuki really becomes more of a pain. Remember, they harvest Biju in numerical order, and they haven't even caught number 2 yet.

Definitions: Although I can understand the request to put translations for Japanese terms in parenthesis after their use, that is not a method that I have ever appreciated. As you may have noticed, I try to avoid breaking the actual flow of my story if I can at all help it. To put parenthesis in the middle of my paragraphs would be quite contrary to that goal. Also, there's a few terms that I either forget to translate, or purposefully neglect to translate. Battle Saints was one such term, as several more observant readers might notice that I introduced the term 3-5 chapters before I actually gave it a definition.


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